A Journey Called Aging

A Journey Called Aging presents an insightful exploration of the years between the entry into older adulthood and death. This text examines the significant changes and major landmarks of older persons between 60 and 90. Grounded by a developmental framework based on empirical research, this book presents a new way of looking at older adulthood, describing the older adult years in intensely human terms through both anecdotes and research-based findings to engage the reader as both guide and traveler. Using a series of sequential stages as a framework, A Journey Called Aging discusses the experiences of older adults addressing the challenges and opportunities presented at each stage. This clear analysis can be used as a guide to help persons plan their own odyssey through the older years. Topics in A Journey Called Aging include: research and results of the study entering older adulthood the long stable stage of Extended Middle Age Early Transition Older Adult Lifestyle Later Transition the stable stage near the end of life the final transition A Journey Called Aging is crucial reading for professionals who work with older adults, including pastors, attorneys, facilities managers, and program directors; gerontology educators and students; and older adults themselves, their families, and those who care for and about them.

A uniquely comprehensive discussion of vocation from infancy to old age Do infants have a vocation? Do Alzheimer's patients? In popular culture, vocation is often reduced to adult work or church ministry. Rarely do we consider childhood or old age as crucial times for commencing or culminating a life of faith in response to God's calling. This book addresses that gap by showing how vocation emerges and evolves over the course of an entire lifetime. The authors cover six of life's distinct seasons, weaving together personal narrative, developmental theory, case studies, and spiritual practices. Calling All Years Good grounds the discussion of vocation in concrete realities and builds a cohesive framework for understanding calling throughout all of life.

Sooner or later, all people begin to dwell on the fact they are aging. How they handle or act upon their thoughts is what David Petty hopes to help them with. In Aging Gracefully he shares his passion: to equip readers with "tools" that can make this stage of life all God intends it to be.

In Speech of the Grail, storyteller and ceremonialist Linda Sussman explores a new way to speak, one that heals and transforms. She takes for her guide Wolfram von Eschenbach's epic tale of the Grail, showing how it depicts a path of initiation toward healing speech--to "doing the truth" in word and action. "The Grail! The word stirs a deep response in the Western imagination. Joseph Campbell called the medieval stories where it is first mentioned 'the founding myth of Western civilization,' because 'according to this mythology, there is no fixed law, no established knowledge of god, set up by prophets or priests, that can stand against the revelation of a life lived with integrity in the spirit of its own brave truth.' Campbell and many other scholars, artists, and seekers have seen the Western wisdom path disclosed in the image of each knight entering the forest where no one else has made a path. The quest is to recover the elusive Grail, thereby returning its sustenance to the world. The presence of the Grail nurtures an invisible web of relationships that connect individual destiny to service of others and to the earth, thereby granting meaning" (Linda Sussman, from her introduction). Sussman begins with a beautiful retelling of the story, allowing readers to inwardly reproduce the potent inner images of the text. Then she shows that it is not so much a path toward perfection as a recovery of the proper relationship with our own imperfections. She shows, too, that it is a path in which male and female aspects work together to overcome evil.

"Bestselling author and psychologist Michael Gurian, who's guided readers through the world of raising children, turns his attention to aging in this comprehensive, holistic look at the emotional, spiritual, and physical dimensions of life after 50, showing how the reader can learn to embrace and celebrate life as they age"--

"Journeywell" provides a framework and an experience for examining the depth and mystery of your journey. It asks question, has exercises, quotes, stories, and information. What have been some of the choice moments? The not so good, in fact, the wrenching bad times? How did you get through those times? What tools do you need to get through the rough spots around the corner? What are you proud of? Who were the powerful people in your life? To whom have you been important? What have you learned? What do you need to do now to make the rest of your life as enjoyable, meaningful, and balanced as possible? It deals with the difficult as well as the delights of aging. Herbert summarizes it all with her Three Ups: Wake Up, Show Up, Lighten Up.

For undergraduate courses in Adulthood and Aging, Gerontology, and Adult Development. This best-selling book discusses the aspects of "successful aging," covering growth and development from young adulthood to old age, and the impact that culture, gender, ethnicity, and individual differences have on these processes. For Barbara Bjorklund, the subject matter in Journey of Adulthood 6e has never been far from home: as a middle-aged adult who is on this very journey along with her husband, looking ahead toward their parents who are in late adulthood and back toward their children who are making their own way through adulthood, she has found that there is always room to learn - always room to grow. One of the major goals of this text is to capture this dynamic process of adult development from young adulthood to the end of life. Its core is made up of research findings from large-scale projects and major theories of adult development, but it also reflects smaller studies of diverse groups, showing the influences of gender, culture, ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic background on this journey. Combined, this material creates for an exciting and thorough view on the process of "successful aging."