Generation Reinvention # 17: Spiritual Journeys of Middle Age and the Future of Aging in America

Our guest this time understands implications of aging in ways that are both profound and practical. In his book entitled “The Five Stages of the Soul: Charting the Spiritual Passages That Shape Our Lives,” he reveals challenges and possibilities presented us as we age by focusing on the spiritual stages through which most of us pass. One outcome of careful spiritual exploration can be significant answers to questions about the meaning of our lives.

Consider his thoughts for a moment from the perspective of your life today:

“One morning each of us, rich or poor, successful or not successful, wakes up in the midst of life to find ourself in the same troubling place: the woman who always wanted a baby but one day finds herself past childbearing age; the doting parents whose children have all grown up and left the nest; the set-the-world-on-fire careerist trapped in a no-exit job – or no job at all; the suddenly graying wunderkinds who always thought themselves ‘younger than others’ ; the wildly successful professionals who’ve made a small fortune, but who can’t seem to enjoy their success; the artists and writers and poets whose youthful hopes lie buried beneath a pile of rejection slips; the tired lovers  and paramours, the twice-married and thrice-married, all coming to suspect that romantic relationships are not, after all, the best way to fill that deep, lonely place in the heart.”

From a business perspective, Harry “Rick” Moody, Ph.D. is also Director of Academic Affairs for AARP in Washington, DC, where he has gained and contributed much practical wisdom about the social, economic and cultural aspects of aging today. He also serves as Senior Associate with the International Longevity Center-USA and Senior Fellow of Civic Ventures.

Dr. Moody previously served as Executive Director of the Brookdale Center on Aging at Hunter College and Chairman of the Board of Elderhostel. He is author of over 100 scholarly articles and book chapters, as well as a number of books including: “Abundance of Life: Human Development Policies for an Aging Society;” “Ethics in an Aging Society”; and “Aging: Concepts and Controversies” (a gerontology textbook now in its 3rd edition). “The Five Stages of the Soul,” one of his most powerful books, excerpted above, has been published by Doubleday Anchor Books and translated into seven languages worldwide.

PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO CHECK OUT DR. MOODY’S BOOK ON AMAZON