★★★☆☆ | Health and Well-Being | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
Like Successful Aging by Daniel Levitin, the author’s message here is to never retire. Work for as long as you can to stay healthy and happy. If you do retire, make sure to find as much purpose in retirement as you possibly can.
The author used Thrive as his title for a reason. Thrive has a Scandinavian heritage that comes from Old Norse, thrīfask, which translates “grasp.” You thrive when you grasp what you want from life. Keep grasping, keep thriving.
Three Sources of Happiness:
- Purpose
- Pleasure
- Peace
Five Essential Components of a Good Life:
- Mind
- Body
- Relationships
- Soul
- Finances
Wealth Takes Many Forms:
- Money and other possessions
- Time
- Skills and talents
- Relationships
- Wisdom
Aging Well
Sophia Loren argued there actually is a fountain of youth. It is inside you: “There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love.” (location 385)
The poet Emily Dickinson said this when she passed that threshold: “Old age comes on suddenly, and not gradually as is thought.” (location 278)
People who retire at 55 are 89% more likely to die in the 10 years after retirement than those who retire at 65….“Mortality improved with increasing age at retirement for people from both high and low socioeconomic groups.” (location 269)
People sixty-five and over show the steepest rise in Alcoholism. (Location 1503)
There’s a widespread notion that most older adults will eventually develop Alzheimer’s Disease or some other form of dementia. Not true. Don’t borrow that worry. The actual statistics for Alzheimer’s according to the American Psychological Association are that only about one in eight people over age sixty-five will develop dementia or Alzheimer’s. Maintain good health, but don’t worry about dementia until an actual condition presents itself. (Location 1146)
The most important conversations you will ever have are conversations you have with yourself. (Location 540)
Abraham Lincoln: “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” (Location 770)
Laughter has the same effect on blood vessels as exercise. Laughter is, as the old proverb says, “the best medicine.” It reduces stress and strengthens your immune system. (Location 1265)
Importance of Having a Purpose
The surest way to find satisfaction in life is to discover a great Purpose that you feel fits you perfectly. (Location 890)
“Purpose is that sense that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, that we are needed, that we have something better ahead to work for. Purpose is what creates true happiness.” — Mark Zuckerberg, commencement address
Following almost 1,000 people (age 80, on average) for up to seven years, Dr. Boyle’s team found that the ones with high Purpose scores were 2.4 times more likely to remain free of Alzheimer’s Disease than those with low scores. Even more remarkable, it appears that having high purpose in life blocked Alzheimer’s symptoms from people who actually had the disease. Autopsies on 246 purpose-oriented people showed they had the distinctive markers for the disease but remained mentally sharp to the end of their lives. (Location 805)
Relationships are Vital
The consequences of any form of detachment are similar. You hurt when you lack close bonds with other human beings. A scarcity of genuine, deep, and meaningful relationships will sap happiness from your life. (Location 1944)
The health consequences of Loneliness are measurable. Anyone who feels friendless or abandoned has an elevated risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, dementia, and a wide range of other medical difficulties. The debilitating effects of isolation are as deadly as smoking or Alcoholism. One expert equated feeling forsaken with smoking fifteen cigarettes a day and worse than being obese. In sum, a chronically lonely person is 50 percent more likely to die prematurely. (Location 2044)
Back in about the fifth century, Celtic people coined the phrase “thin places” to describe sacred settings and moments when they felt they were connecting with the unseen real. Their thinking was that the spiritual world, heaven or whatever term you prefer, is always close, but there are times or places when it seems especially close. You experience a thin place more with your soul than with your five physical senses. (Location 2254)
Money Can’t Buy Everything
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like.” — Will Rodgers
The American Psychological Association ranked money as a leading cause of stress. For almost one-third of couples, money is a major source of conflict in their relationship. About one-half of millionaires with net worth up to $5 million felt insecure, fearing they could lose it all. (Location 2510)
Don’t Retire
Retirement, as an ordinary practice, has only been around for less than one hundred years. The Social Security Act was passed in 1935. Here’s a fact that trivia buffs will enjoy. When the official retirement age was set at sixty-five, life expectancy for American men was around fifty-eight.7 Looking back across thousands of years of human history, nearly everyone worked until his or her health gave out. Retirement was exceedingly rare. (Location 2538)
To put it bluntly, I find the word retired offensive. The word comes from the sixteenth century. In French it described an army running to hide from an enemy that was defeating it. Retreat and retirement have similar origins. (Location 2543) Retirement
Be wary of false perceptions of what peace is. Is peace simply a quiet life? People have idealized retirement as a chance to kick back and relax for the rest of life. Taking that approach is generally unhealthy and may shorten your life. You need purpose and pleasure in addition to peace to be genuinely fulfilled and happy. (Location 2872)
There are people who slowly sink as their life moves downriver. Others merely stay afloat. Happy people sail forward with Purpose. (Location 2926)