A practical guide to living your later years with wisdom and purpose, featuring inspiring stories and thought-provoking exercises.When we claim our place at the fire, we enter into the circle of vital elders who have been the source of wisdom in society since time immemorial. We do this by courageously reexamining and rediscovering who we are, where we belong, what we care about, and what our life's purpose is.
Claiming Your Place at the Fire invites you to approach the second half of your life as an empty canvas, ready to be filled with a new and vibrant sense of purpose. It shows you how to stoke the wisdom you’ve gained to burn more brightly to light the way for yourself and others. Through stories and exercises, you will learn to look at yourself with new eyes and answer four key questions:
Who am I?
Where do I belong?
What do I care about?
and What is my purpose
Claiming Your Place at the Fire: Living the Second Half of Your Life On Purpose presents a new paradigm of successful aging for men and women entering into and moving through the second half of their lives
Through an exploration of key concepts like purpose and renewal, and by drawing upon the timeless metaphor of fire, it enables readers to become what the authors call "new elders"-individuals who realize the power that comes with true wisdom and who accept the deep responsibility to share that wisdom for the benefit of their loved ones, their communities, and the world at large; to do so is what authors Leider and Shapiro mean by "claiming your place at the fire."
"This is a book that will comfort anyone afraid of growing old. It sheds new light on vital aging."
—Walter F. Mondale, former Vice President, Senator and Ambassador
"As a generation, baby boomers have long been called 'the rat in the python.'
Claiming Your Place at the Fire challenges us to be the python, not the rat—and to start by shedding our generational skins. This book is thoughtful, warm, helpful, and above all else, wise."
—Alan M. Webber, Founding Editor, Fast Company
