Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old?

Our later years need not be a time of loss. This book helps readers embrace the positive possibilities of aging and provides guidance on doing so purposefully, with courage, compassion, and curiosity.

In their bestseller Repacking Your Bags, Richard Leider and David Shapiro defined the good life as "living in the place you belong, with people you love, doing the right work, on purpose." This book argues that aging well can be similarly defined as "aging in the place you belong, with people you love, doing the right 'work,' on purpose." 

This book began as a conversation between two old friends during a rained-out baseball game, reflecting on the fact that, while society revers old friendships, they are dismissive of old people. How can we push back against the attitude that old age is nothing more than a gradual decline, and reframe it as a liberatory experience? What does "old" really mean? In what do we anchor our sense of identity as our life circumstances change? How do we deal with health challenges in an enlightened way? Aging is not a disease; it is a design problem. Redesigning our lives as we enter this new phase requires that we learn to grow whole, not old. And that means exploring the path of purposeful aging.