Life has seasons and to be happy you have to be in the season of the life you are living in. Bill Thomas
Who is Dr Bill Thomas?
I just listened to Dr Bill Thomas's contribution to the opening of the Transforming Aging Summit.
I hadn't heard of him before but he is well known.
The SHIFT blurb tells us, 'Dr. Bill Thomas is an author, entrepreneur, musician, teacher, farmer and physician whose wide-ranging work explores the terrain of human aging. Best known for his health care system innovations, he is the founder of a global non-profit (The Eden Alternative) which works to improve the care provided to older people. He is the creator of The Green House® which Provider Magazine has called the “pinnacle of culture change.” Dr. Thomas also developed the Senior ER model of care and is currently prototyping a tiny-house model to maximize independence and wellbeing.'
Stages of Life
Generally, we act as if adulthood was the pinnacle of our human evolution. But Bill Harris thinks differently. Just as we move from childhood to adulthood by making a series of choices, so we move from adulthood to elder hood by making another series of choices.
We shift focus. We shift to a greater focus on relationships, on subjective feeling of enjoyment, on being rather than doing, on things that are intrinsically valuable to us rather than fulfilling the dictates of others. If we meet with others, the focus tends to be on being with each other rather than on what we can get out of the meeting.
As Bill Thomas said, we have an obligation to explore the territory of old age in a way that younger people cannot. ‘Old age is a country that to a large degree is undiscovered and your event [the Summit] is about exploring this new terrain, it's about reaching out for and taking hold of new possibilities.’
What season of life are you in? and how well are you living in that season?
You can find out more about Dr Bill Thomas and his work at www.changingaging.org.