Renewal, Revision, & Reinvention After 50

The years after age 50 are often a time of life changes, many of them coming about without your choice or control. The journey through midlife and beyond can be an unsettling time. For some, the intense striving of young adulthood has cooled, or the twists and turns of life may have led to a very different place than originally planned. Feeling adrift may lead to depression, during a time most expect to be flourishing. As parts of life slow down and change, it creates the perfect opportunity to re-examine one’s sense of meaning and purpose, and create fresh vision for the road that lies ahead. Re-examining and redefining a sense of purpose helps you define or rediscover not only personal values and goals, but how those value and goals create you: the person, the family member, the world citizen. Having a well-thought out personal mission statement provides you with a framework from which you can draw insight and point you toward the activities you would most enjoy, define the qualities you look for in others, and help you be more self-aware; especially in how your priorities, interests, or beliefs may have shifted. This can help you realign your thinking to better keep you working toward your vision of the world, your community, your family — your legacy.