Get. Out. Of. Yourself.

“Wherever you turn, you can find someone who needs you.” Albert Schweitzer said that, and boy did he know.

Recently, I received an email with this subject line: “Avoid being a ‘bored boomer’ in retirement.” My reaction was recoil. Bored? Who could be bored when there’s so much to do for this hurting world?

But I remember being under-involved, and blue about it, after retirement, casting about looking for my post-working-life identity, my passion, my place. At a conference I attended, author Richard Leider said, “If you have a pulse, you have a purpose.” That line has a great, bracing ring to it, but it haunted me: if you don’t know what your purpose is, do you still have one?

A large proportion of retirees—with decades of life remaining—suffer from loss of identity, of meaning, of social engagement. That suffering has to end, both for the benefit of the retirees, who are vulnerable to physical and emotional diminishment from disengagement, and for benefit of the world, which sorely needs our continued efforts to make life better.

Where to begin?

Begin with your heart. Turn toward the hurt. In the words of poet and activist Andrew Harvey, “Identify the issues that break your heart, and take action.” Cultivate self-knowledge with books, like From Age-ing to Sage-ing, by Rabbi Zalman Schecter-Shalomi; Conscious Living, Conscious Aging, by Ron Pevny; The Aging of Aquarius, by Helen Wilkes; Aging as a Spiritual Practice, by Lewis Richmond; and others (several found here), which offer not just wisdom but meaningful exercises for discovering it within. The "Empowered Elder" workshop offered by Elders Action Network, the IONS Conscious Aging workshops, and similar group experiences can be life-changing.

And it’s never too soon (or too late) to reach out to make new connections.

• If you want to return to work, paid or unpaid, you’ll find some helpful advice and connections through the Encore Network, and additional resources here.
• If you want to be engaged in social or environmental activism, you’ll find some great opportunities here. (I’m happily involved with the Elders Action Network, Elders Climate Action, the Pachamama Alliance, the Sunrise Movement, and the Radical Age Movement, and I’m a reading buddy with students at an under-resourced elementary school nearby, which I found through Volunteer Match.)
• If you want to help neighborhood organizations, you can find volunteering opportunities near you through Volunteer Match or through AARP’s volunteer matching service. Even if you’re not able-bodied you can make an important difference as a “virtual volunteer” starting right here, with a handy list of 25 opportunities to improve the world from home.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, "Every single one of us can do something to make a difference." You can better this broken world, enrich and possibly extend your own life, and expand the circle of people who will miss you when you’re gone by reaching out a helping hand to others.  

​“Bored”? Impossible for long if you bestir yourself. Do yourself, and the world, and your family a favor. Get. Out. And. Help.