Finding Meaning in Later Life Is Your Choice

Source: Pete Linforth/Pixabay

There is a longstanding debate as to whether people have free will, defined as the capacity to make decisions independent of the external world. The existential philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre suggested that individuals were “condemned to be free,” doomed to agonize over all the choices they face in life. Other advisors have taken the opposite approach; believing in fate where events, and thereby even our choices, are all predetermined. Still others fall somewhere in the middle, believing that life is a combination of both free will and fate.

Do you feel you have free will and the freedom to choose how your life evolves? If so, are you actively choosing the direction your life takes? Or do you believe that your life has already been predetermined and therefore you are content to let circumstances or other people determine your future? These are important questions to ask yourself as you age, especially if you are feeling that life is too short or that you are running out of time to live the life you truly want.

To see how the choices you have made in the past have manifested, take a look at yourself and the life you are living now. Then ask yourself if you are happy to continue this life or if is it time to make some new choices based on the “who/what” question: “Who am I now and what do I want for the rest of my life?”

As we transition to our older years, we may realize that we have lived a somewhat programmed life, dictated by others who, although they may have been well-intentioned, may have steered us away from who we really are at our core and our authentic interests. Now that you are older, it is time to face the fork in the road; to choose to continue with this programming or to choose to override it and make decisions for yourself.

Our choices are shaped by our inner perception of ourselves. However, nothing changes until we change this perception. Reflect upon whether you:

• Believe you are too old to change versus believing one's mindset can overrule age.
• Feel worn out and rundown versus strong and vibrant.
• Believe you won’t be able to cope with future challenges (health, financial, death) versus being able to cope.
• Dread the future versus seeing a bright future, full of hope and possibility.
• Believe you lack the resources (time, money, help from others) versus believing you will live with abundant resources in the future.
• Lack goals versus having stimulating goals that will pull you into your future.
• Feel alone versus are willing to seek out better social connections
• Are too afraid to change versus have confidence in yourself that you can change.
• Believe change is too hard versus believing change can happen with a commitment and a plan.
• Feel you are stuck by your own choices or because someone else won’t let you change versus believing you are strong enough to make changes yourself.

In essence, change comes down to your self-perception including the belief that “I can do this.”

Your choices create your own unique tapestry of life. Although outside forces may control the external world, your choices can control your internal world.

Make a list of new choices that will shape and improve your life as you age. The choices can become habits that, in turn, shape your life. But both choice and action are needed.

Consider how you will choose:

• Your attitude toward problems you will undoubtedly encounter in your day.
• Who you will spend your time with, while being more aware of who is influencing you.
• How to broaden your interests.
• To seek out purpose in every day.
• To stop complaining.
• How much movement/exercise you get in a day.
• Healthier food options for more energy.

Things happen in the world that are beyond our sphere of control. We cannot dictate world politics, the price of food, or the behavior of others. But we can control our inner world, starting with our own choices.

Many have advised that the end result of our lives will be the total of all the choices we have made along the way. Is it time to make new choices to find deeper meaning in your life—before it’s too late?