“I learn by going where I have to go” from “The Waking” by Theodore Roethke

 

       I’m a sucker for self-help books.  And time management books.   In late summer of 2021  I  was reading Four Thousand  Weeks by British time management expert, Oliver Burkeman.   The author urges readers to embrace their finitude rather than fighting the impossible goal of getting everything done.

 

      Burkeman bases “finitude” on the premise that there are roughly four thousand weeks in an eighty-year life. I was reading his book in August.  My eightieth birthday was in November.   I did the math and figured I had about twelve weeks before my productive time was up.   

 

     When my eightieth birthday rolled around, some people were telling me I didn’t “look eighty.”  Furthermore, I had no idea what it might mean to “act eighty.”  At the same time Oliver's message seemed to be, “Well, you are eighty.  You've outlived your expiration date.”

 

      That’s the way it is for those of us who are eighty-somethings: mixed messages about our value,  what we can or can’t do, what we should or shouldn’t do. 

 

      There’s some good news and some bad news.  I’m not bothering with the bad news.   Here is the good news.  It’s out there!  Good news about longevity, not just in years but in the quality of life.  For the past four years I have curated a world of professional advice about a well-lived life on the other side of four thousand weeks. I want to share with you what I have learned.  And those GrrEighties I’ve met on the way.