Claiming Your Place at the Fire Living the Second Half of Your Life on Purpose

by Leider, Richard J.; Shapiro, David A.

• ISBN13: 9781576752975
• ISBN10: 1576752976
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-12
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Summary

More than 10,000 people turn 50 every day in the U.S.; how do they handle this shift? Claiming Your Place at the Fire invites this group of "new elders" to ask four key questions: Who am I? New elders synthesize and transfer the wisdom of the past into the present. Where do I belong? They have a powerful sense of where they have come from, where they are, and where they are going. How do I bring my passions alive? They rejoice in rediscovering their life's work, their calling, their vocation. What is my life's purpose? Freed from imposed schedules and demands, new elders now find the freedom to create their lives anew. This timely book describes how new older adults can rekindle the good life, relight the fire within, and share that warmth and light with others.

Author Biography

Richard J. Leider is a founding partner of The Inventure Group, a coaching and consulting firm in Minneapolis. A National Certified Career Coach, he has been helping people to discover their life’s purpose for more than thirty years.
David A. Shapiro is Education Director of the Northwest Center for Philosophy for Children, a non¬profit organization that brings philosophy and philosophers into the lives of young people through literature, philosophical works, and group activities.
Together Leider and Shapiro have coauthored the bestselling books Repacking Your Bags and Whistle While You Work.

Table of Contents

Invitation to the Fire	vii
Prologue At the Fireside: The New Elder	ix
Introduction The Four Flames of Vital Aging	1	(12)
Chapter 1 The Flame of Identity: Recalling Our Stories	13	(34)
Chapter 2 The Flame of Community: Refinding Our Place	47	(20)
Chapter 3 The Flame of Passion: Renewing Our Calling	67	(36)
Chapter 4 The Flame of Meaning: Reclaiming Our Purpose	103	(24)
Epilogue Keeping the Fire Alive	127	(14)
Notes	141	(2)
Index	143	(8)
About the Authors	151