NEW SPACE:  OUR "30-YEAR LIFE BONUS"

"Third Age" (roughly 50 to 85) is the extended life-span technology has brought us.   Dr. William Sadler calls this our “30-year life bonus" and it means we’ll live an average of three decades more than our great-grandparents!

Of course aging brings its losses.  Less energy in general.  Intriguing gaps in short term memory.  Decreased interest in the affairs of the world, especially its silly repetitive cycles.  Wondering if Viagra would really help.

But Third Age must also bring gifts previous ages couldn’t.  After all, sex didn’t become available until after puberty and having significant influence was not a teen-age likelihood.  Discovering such gifts is essential because Third Age will be the longest stage of our lives (three-plus decades of “filling time” can look very depressing, especially to echoes of Peggy Lee’s, “Is this all there is?”).    

So what is the "new life" Third Age has kept for us?  What possibilities await that weren't available before we accumulated the experience and the years?

But there are magnificent gains, too – new access to ease, wisdom and intuition as well as clarity about what will bring wholeness.  These abilities are so new and unusual there’s no guarantee of lucidity, but I’ll probably get a little mystical.  

BEING IS THE HEART OF THIRD AGE

Learning is the heart of First Age.  Doing is the heart of Second Age.  Being is the heart of Third Age.  While I’ll always want a balance of all three, each age offers one as its primary gift.  

I’m finding Being easy to say, but hard to get.  I grew up thinking Being means “doing nothing,” and that was a real “no-no.”  Now I’m seeing it differently.  Being is a profound and deep activity.  Maxims like “Stop and smell the roses,” “See how it looks in the morning” and “Don’t just do something, sit there!” hint at those depths.  I used to hate having those aphorisms thrown at me – now I’m doing the throwing!  It helps having the good Dr. Einstein as a guide:  

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift

And the rational mind is a faithful servant.

We have created a culture that honors the servant

And has forgotten the gift.  

My intuitive mind is the part of me that can “know” directly what makes sense at any given moment.  It doesn’t seek approval from others.  It doesn’t get confused by criticisms and judgments.  It uses the wisdom of experience to give me uniquely personal guidance.  It tells me when to Learn, when to Do and when to “do nothing.”    Robert Frost put it this way:  

We dance round in a ring and suppose,

But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.  

My Second Age was mainly about “dancing round in rings and supposing.”  Now I’m ready to “sit in the middle and know.”  I want my intuitive mind to give my rational mind the guidance it deserves.  And I think I glimpse how.  (Don’t make faces – I told you this was going to be philosophical and mystically out there.)

BEING LETS THE GIFT GUIDE THE SERVANT

Doing is “Make It Happen.”  Being is “Let It Happen.”  Both are basic to our lives.  But I got taught – and rewarded for – “Making It Happen.”  No wonder I’m so unskilled at Being.  And here I am in Third Age where my fulfillment depends on it.  

I want to reclaim my ability to Be.  Clearly I had it before.  As a kid I could let go and Be almost any time.  Then I learned it was “unproductive” and started to hide it.  Soon I’d forgotten where and didn’t know how to get it back.  I’d feel cynical and depressed.  

Much of my Second Age activity just wasn’t satisfying any more, even with the accolades and dollars.  But I kept doing it.  And I got more cynical and more depressed.  Then I had the good fortune to be around people who helped me see the value of Being – of knowing how to become quiet enough to listen to my intuitive mind.  

For many of you, the idea of Bill becoming quiet is an oxymoron.  (It’s certainly not easy.)  So much of my upbringing made Being seem like “doing nothing” andFW-GL “giving up.”  Turned out not be so at all.  Now I’m learning how to Be.  The other morning I cracked up.  As I was meditating, I caught myself trying to “do Being” – my mind was actually trying to figure out how much longer I had to meditate before I was “done Being” and could get on with the next “task.”  A sense of humor helps.  It’s definitely a quite a journey.