“Our first half is about how to make a living. And our second half has the promise of being about how to make a life.” So said Bob Buford in his book, Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance. Working for a Living was the title of our previous session, which introduces Chapter 4 of the book Midlife, New Life: Living Consciously in Midlife and Beyond. Now we will explore the next chapter, Working for Fulfilment.
Uniting Avocation and Vocation
Our careers often begin with a simple necessity: making a living. We spend decades paying bills, building security, and climbing ladders. But what if the second half of life held a different promise—the opportunity to shift from making a living to making a life? What about a shift from working for a living to working for fulfilment? Although this might be a dramatic change, it could be a time for bringing together our vocation and our avocation.
Robert Frost beautifully captured this transition at the end of his beautiful poem, Two Tramps in Mud Time: “My object in living is to unite my avocation and my vocation as my two eyes make one insight.” This means combining our avocation, our purpose, what we want to do, with our vocation, what we’re paid to do—working because we want to, not because we have to. You’ve probably dreamed about it, but have you taken action?
Someday Island
In the Midlife, New Life book, we wrote, Many of us spend way too much time marooned on what we call “Someday Island.” Someday I will find a fulfilling career or start a business. Someday I will give back more. Someday I will have a great adventure. Someday I will be happy. In her book, Someday Is Not a Day in the Week, Sam Horn tells the story of her father, who had a dream of visiting all the national parks when he retired. … “Dad finally took off on his long-delayed dream a week after he retired,” Sam writes. “A week after that, he had a stroke in a hotel bathroom. Dad never got to do what he had dreamed of his whole life.”
Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon story. I remember my first job many years ago. There was someone there who was ready to retire and exactly the same thing happened. He only got into retirement by a week or so and then he was gone. So Sam Horn’s message is very much about don’t delay, start today. It’s time to leave Someday Island and start looking for fulfilment, bringing our dreams to center stage to live a more fulfilled life as we move to our next chapter.
Paths to encore careers, entrepreneurial options, and mindful volunteering all lead to greater purpose, fulfillment, and meaning. Look ahead at what could be next with imagination, curiosity, and anticipation for those wonders that are over the horizon. Be inspired to start living your “somedays” today!
Practical Reflection Questions
As you consider your path forward, ask yourself: What are the dreams that will get you off Someday Island? What are possible encore options you want to test out? What is your wildest, most creative entrepreneurial fantasy? What local community or global issue would you like to be involved in? What might be a new way of volunteering for you?
Watch this video to learn more about Working for a Fulfilment:
