Book Reviews
Review from Dudley Tower, PhD
Based on my observations while teaching for the last twelve years in a large Learning in Retirement Program, most people retire without any viable plan to begin this wondrous journey to a new stage in life. Due to the miracles of medical science, many of us now have an additional 15-20 years of happy, healthy life available to us - if that is what we choose. So, why do so many people seem to choose the normal, easier, and relatively unconscious way of going through their retirement, usually resulting in premature cognitive and physical decline, while others seem to launch themselves immediately into interacting with new activities, people, ideas, ways of doing things – and seem so much more alive, and healthier, than the other group of people?
If you want to be part of this second group of retirees, Barney and Jim have developed a very simple approach for an older adult to begin finding new purpose and direction in later life. What has been done in the past has passed, but we can also choose to change the ending of our life-story by writing each new chapter of our life from an expanding base of wisdom, self-knowledge, and personal alignment with our own unique experience, skills, preferences, needs, and purpose. Each day can be looked upon as a new chapter in our lives from this perspective.
Fully engaging with the content and exercises in this book are necessary for most people to start a process of continuous positive development and personal change that can bring us increasing joy and satisfaction for many decades to come. The alternative - if you don’t take this opportunity – can be a lack of initial direction and the possibility of 5, 10, or even 15 years slipping by without ever realizing that we are the persons responsible for writing our own final chapters, and whether we have a happy or a sad ending is really up to us.
Dudley Tower, PhD
Founder – Dynamic Aging Institute and Dynamic Aging Program
www.dynamicaginginstitute.com
If you want to be part of this second group of retirees, Barney and Jim have developed a very simple approach for an older adult to begin finding new purpose and direction in later life. What has been done in the past has passed, but we can also choose to change the ending of our life-story by writing each new chapter of our life from an expanding base of wisdom, self-knowledge, and personal alignment with our own unique experience, skills, preferences, needs, and purpose. Each day can be looked upon as a new chapter in our lives from this perspective.
Fully engaging with the content and exercises in this book are necessary for most people to start a process of continuous positive development and personal change that can bring us increasing joy and satisfaction for many decades to come. The alternative - if you don’t take this opportunity – can be a lack of initial direction and the possibility of 5, 10, or even 15 years slipping by without ever realizing that we are the persons responsible for writing our own final chapters, and whether we have a happy or a sad ending is really up to us.
Dudley Tower, PhD
Founder – Dynamic Aging Institute and Dynamic Aging Program
www.dynamicaginginstitute.com
Review from Ron Pevny
As someone whose passion lies in supporting other in aging with passion, purpose and commitment to growth in their elder chapters, I did not have high expectations as I began reading Odyssey: An Epic Journey. I have read a great many of the books seeking to promote a positive, empowering vision of aging, so I imagined this short work would not have much to offer that would make it unique or very different. To my pleasant surprise, I was wrong. In this little gem the authors have succeeded, in 48 pages, to encapsulate the essence of what is possible for us as we age and several necessary steps for living into our rich potential as elders.
Odyssey presents an eight-step process for consciously and intentionally writing final chapters of the book of our lives that are centered, not in “merely adjusting to the changes that come with retirement and advancing years”, but in choosing “to truly embrace who we are and create an entirely new lifestyle that is satisfying, vibrant, and rewarding for ourselves and those around us.” If the wisdom contained in this book is to be more than just a feel-good read, however, we need to be willing to engage in a committed, focused way with the practices which are so invitingly and carefully outlined in each of the eight chapters.
It takes effort and dedication to our growth to honesty examine where we are in life at this point of major transition; to reflect on our core values, whether we are living them in our daily life and how we can best do so in the future; to explore our strengths, weaknesses, influences/impediments, fears and the threats to our finding fulfillment (The SWIFT Assessment); to work to develop a plan for our final chapters that will enable us to meet our needs and fulfill our most heartfelt wants for our lives as elders; and to live as we age with purpose and conviction. The gift of this book is its ability to inspire its readers to aim high as they age and, unlike many other longer, denser books, to provide a practical roadmap for doing so in a few engaging and very accessible pages. I highly recommend giving Odyssey as a very meaningful gift to someone who is at or approaching retirement age, and then asking them to share with you what this inspiring book means to them.
Odyssey presents an eight-step process for consciously and intentionally writing final chapters of the book of our lives that are centered, not in “merely adjusting to the changes that come with retirement and advancing years”, but in choosing “to truly embrace who we are and create an entirely new lifestyle that is satisfying, vibrant, and rewarding for ourselves and those around us.” If the wisdom contained in this book is to be more than just a feel-good read, however, we need to be willing to engage in a committed, focused way with the practices which are so invitingly and carefully outlined in each of the eight chapters.
It takes effort and dedication to our growth to honesty examine where we are in life at this point of major transition; to reflect on our core values, whether we are living them in our daily life and how we can best do so in the future; to explore our strengths, weaknesses, influences/impediments, fears and the threats to our finding fulfillment (The SWIFT Assessment); to work to develop a plan for our final chapters that will enable us to meet our needs and fulfill our most heartfelt wants for our lives as elders; and to live as we age with purpose and conviction. The gift of this book is its ability to inspire its readers to aim high as they age and, unlike many other longer, denser books, to provide a practical roadmap for doing so in a few engaging and very accessible pages. I highly recommend giving Odyssey as a very meaningful gift to someone who is at or approaching retirement age, and then asking them to share with you what this inspiring book means to them.
Review from John C Robinson Ph.D.
This is a delightfully short and effective book about the rest of your life - you get to what's important fast! Odyssey presents a well-crafted self-assessment process for creating an inner-directed, values-oriented final chapter of life, and it works. As a psychologist, I especially liked the SWIFT acronym asking us to look compassionately at our strengths, weaknesses, influences/impediments, fears and threats affecting our dreams, and then reach out to others to help us make the practical and meaningful changes that will inspire the rest of our life. I found myself reconsidering many of my retirement assumptions and thinking in new ways. This would be a great book for retiring couples, aging or retirement classes, or individual counseling. Do the work in this book and your retirement life will blossom.
