Episode Summary
Oliver Burkeman reading from James Hollis’ Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life and discussing how accepting our limitations leads to a fulfilling life.
Do you measure time passing by years or by days? Did you know that an 80-year-old has about 30,000 days in their lifetime? No matter where you are on your timeline, Mary Oliver posed the question best: “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Oliver Burkeman, a wonderful author and journalist, joins me to discuss our limited control over reality and the future, and why not expecting things to be easy is the key to happiness.
Oliver reads two pages from ‘Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life’ by James Hollis. [reading begins at 12:27]
Hear us talk about:
- Is wisdom only accessible through suffering? :The greatest goal is to make life more interesting.” [15:23]
- The difference between the people who travel through ‘the wood’ and those who get stuck in ‘the wood.’ [18:32]
- “Every moment of an authentically lived life is an encounter with its limitations, finitude and death.” [22:46]
- How thinking that problems shouldn’t exist in life makes you unhappy: “What makes it unbearable is your mistaken belief that it can be cured.” [25:56]
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RESOURCES:
Oliver Burkeman | Website | Twitter
Oliver’s mentioned books: The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking | Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
James Hollis | Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life
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