Martha O'Brien

This is the season of commencement speeches and graduation ceremonies.

What if we celebrated our graduation to the second half of life?Arrival at the second half of life does not happen at a certain chronological age, yet it is the ultimate initiation even without a ceremony and is mostly ignored in our culture. Some young people have faced challenges that matured them beyond their years while some elders have become old folks instead of embodying wisdom and spiritual maturity.

In the first half of life, our task is to build a foundation: establish our work life and loving relationships. We need to build a strong ego so we can show up in the world with integrity.

In his book Falling Upward, Richard Rohr says:

Did you know the first half of life has to fail you? In fact, if you do not recognize an eventual and necessary dissatisfaction [in the form of sadness, restlessness, emptiness, intellectual conflict, spiritual boredom, even loss of faith, etc.], you will not move on to maturity.

At the crossroad of the first and second half of life, we arrive at a complicated paradox – to surrender the ego so we can go deeper into soul awareness. The second half of life has little to do with accomplishments, titles, or awards. For some, it is a time of hunger for “something more” beyond the daily grind.

When I woke up in my 40s after sleep walking through the first half of life, I wanted to create consistent spiritual practices that would carry me across thresholds for the rest of my life. Every day I am a beginner. I write to make sense of my life. I create collages to re-connect to my creative self so I can wake up and wake up some more.

The second half of life presents us with the opportunity to develop increased depth, integrity, and character ~ or not. The choice is ours.
Angeles Arrien ~ The Second Half of Life.

May you flourish in the second half of life.