Hey Sam! Good question. Falling Upward is a great book to really unpack it. Here is a promoted and summarized ChatGPT response. 😁
The first half of life is about building identity, security, and achieving external success—focused on structure, goals, and societal validation. It’s like constructing a house. In contrast, the second half of life shifts to inner growth, meaning, and wisdom—living fully within the “house” by embracing vulnerability, relationships, and spiritual depth.
Jung describes this as individuation, integrating all parts of the self, while Rohr frames it spiritually, moving from rules and success to deeper faith and purpose. American culture often overemphasizes the first half, making the transition to the second half challenging but essential for a fulfilled life.
Hope this helps. The key “culture” I am referring too is the western developed world- Merka 😉
Thank you for sharing, Terry! My wife and I are in our fourth year of choosing a word of the year, and it’s been such a meaningful way to focus our intentions. For 2025, my word is Overflow—a reminder to live out of abundance, pouring into others with generosity and gratitude, building on last year’s word, Hospitality.
Praying for your leadership as you step into a year of Be’ing. Here’s to fully embracing who God has called us to be in 2025!
Brother, I miss you so much. What a great post and a great word for the year. Gonna check out the Dave Adamson book for sure. Love the Bingo card.
My word this year is "faithful". Kristie looked at me funny when I told her that was my word and said, "I hope you're faithful." I unpacked that in my case it's to be firm, trustworthy, and/or reliable.
As a husband: Being emotionally present and reliable, not just physically there
As a father: Creating consistent patterns of love and support
As a mentor: Committing to others' growth for the long haul
As a leader: Demonstrating consistency between what you say and do
Hey Sam! Good question. Falling Upward is a great book to really unpack it. Here is a promoted and summarized ChatGPT response. 😁
The first half of life is about building identity, security, and achieving external success—focused on structure, goals, and societal validation. It’s like constructing a house. In contrast, the second half of life shifts to inner growth, meaning, and wisdom—living fully within the “house” by embracing vulnerability, relationships, and spiritual depth.
Jung describes this as individuation, integrating all parts of the self, while Rohr frames it spiritually, moving from rules and success to deeper faith and purpose. American culture often overemphasizes the first half, making the transition to the second half challenging but essential for a fulfilled life.
Hope this helps. The key “culture” I am referring too is the western developed world- Merka 😉
Thanks Terry!
Thank you for sharing, Terry! My wife and I are in our fourth year of choosing a word of the year, and it’s been such a meaningful way to focus our intentions. For 2025, my word is Overflow—a reminder to live out of abundance, pouring into others with generosity and gratitude, building on last year’s word, Hospitality.
Praying for your leadership as you step into a year of Be’ing. Here’s to fully embracing who God has called us to be in 2025!
Overflow, I love that Michael and thank you for sharing. I am praying for you now.
Brother, I miss you so much. What a great post and a great word for the year. Gonna check out the Dave Adamson book for sure. Love the Bingo card.
My word this year is "faithful". Kristie looked at me funny when I told her that was my word and said, "I hope you're faithful." I unpacked that in my case it's to be firm, trustworthy, and/or reliable.
As a husband: Being emotionally present and reliable, not just physically there
As a father: Creating consistent patterns of love and support
As a mentor: Committing to others' growth for the long haul
As a leader: Demonstrating consistency between what you say and do
Great post Terry. Love the reminder to reread Falling Upward.
If you decided to lead a study group on this topic in ‘25, I would be game.
Thanks, Mark. I had not thought about a study group on the topic…great idea. I will think about that. Appreciate the prompting.
Thanks Terry! I've never heard of "a second-half-of-life person, living in a first-half-of-life culture". What does it mean?