Consider Being a Post-career Gadfly
Photo by Егор Камелев on Unsplash
Socrates once said, “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”
This guy seemed to know “busy barrenness” without even having a smartphone, the internet, a Facebook account or a mortgage.
This was just one of many jabs that Socrates took at Athenian society, of which he was a reluctant part. That is until they convinced him he would be better off test-driving a hemlock cocktail than continuing to be a pain in the arse of the Athens establishment.
Plato tagged Socrates as the “gadfly” of Athens.
A gadfly is a “fly that bites or annoys livestock” often “stinging the animal into action”.
Socrates is said to have referred to himself as a gadfly because he “bites and buzzes at the self-satisfied”, thus establishing himself as an unpopular social and moral critic.
Sounds like a great role for us “third-agers”!
The idea of being a gadfly in this third act of my life (without the prescripted hemlock) appeals to me. Infected as I am with a personality replete with skepticism and iconoclasm, more “biting and buzzing” in a couple of areas of our culture might add more fun to my quest.
What part of being a third-age/post-career/retiree gadfly doesn’t make sense?
- What have we got to lose? We’re a long way from hauling people off in chains – or scripting hemlock.
- We’ve got lots of outdated and inauthentic myths, models and messages out there that need to be exposed.
- Accumulated smarts and life experiences give us credibility and a voice worth listening to.
- Our skin is thicker – other people’s opinions of what we think no longer guide our decisions.
- The world needs our words and the truths gained through maturity, wisdom and life experiences.
- Those behind us deserve “sageing”, a lost role ripe for resurrection.
I’ll bet you’ve got a handful of favorite areas you’d like to “gadfly”.
Here are three of my favorite candidates for “biting and buzzing”:
- An out-of-control healthcare system focused more on cure than prevention and profit more than patient care.
- A food industry that deceives us and cares little about our health (in lockstep with a healthcare system that cares little about what we eat.)
- Corporate ageist hiring practices and ageism in general.
I’ve been gadflying around these issues for some time now.
How to be a gadfly – three easy steps.
Moving right into “biting and buzzing” may be too far, too fast. Consider three steps building toward becoming a legitimate, recognized gadfly.
- Be the change you want to see in the world. OK, I stole that from Gandhi. He lived it and transformed the second most populous nation in the world.
Suppose you wanted to make a statement against our healthcare system and food industry and ageism all at once. What would a Gandhi approach look like?
-
- Look, act and feel “young for your age” by adopting a lifestyle built on healthy habits of hygiene, diet, exercise and social engagement that will limit your need to engage our reactive, disease-care system. You may inspire others to secretly make changes to “get what you’ve got.”
- Cast your vote against the harmful fast food/fast casual restaurant business by cooking (and entertaining) at home with healthful, natural, non-animal ingredients.
- Be conscious of how your own language and choice of words contribute to ageism. Train yourself to avoid using ageist words/phrases like those below. This may be tough when hanging with your demographic peer group. Whether directed at yourself or someone else, using this type of phraseology is practicing ageism, plain and simple. And it engenders its use in others.
- I just had a senior moment.
- This aging thing is for the birds/is no picnic/sucks!
- What do you expect at your age? (If this comes from your doctor, change doctors!)
- You certainly don’t look your age.
- You’re not retired yet?
- When are you going to retire?
- How’s it going, gramps?
- Whaasup, old timer?
- “Young lady” when addressing an older woman
- Old dogs can’t learn new tricks.
- Can you believe she’s 60 years old?
- He is 80 going on 60.
- You shouldn’t be doing that.
- You could pass for much younger.
- Good to see you are still up and around.
- You’re still working?
- You have a smartphone?
- Don’t stop learning. Stretch yourself intellectually. Read, take courses, attend conferences, sign up for seminars/webinars. Stay current, keep up with technology. Amaze your peer group and the youngers with your grasp of technology and the depth of your awareness.
- Become a student of that which you would like to see changed or righted. You’ll be surprised how shallow people’s positions are on most things. Much of their knowledge is surface knowledge. One of the ironies of living in the information age is that we’re forgetting how to think critically.
Is it difficult to establish credibility on a topic of your choice? Consider two powerful statistics :
-
- The average number of books read annually is 12-15. Reading 15-20 minutes a day of an average sized book equals 12 days/ book, 30 books per year. 15 minutes a day and you are twice the average.
- A Stanford University study indicated that if you read 30-60 minutes each day in your field of interest, in four to five years you will be a national authority.
We’re talking gadfly here, not national authority to start. I think you get the point. It’s not hard to set yourself apart to diplomatically and authoritatively put holes in suspect myths, models and messages.
- Ease your way into the conversation. Practice your way to the soapbox – or national authority, should that be your quest.
- Test your new contrary position on friends.
- Submit an editorial to your newspaper.
- Comment on blogs written on your topic of choice.
- Consider starting a blog.
- Present your position at a civic organization like Rotary or Kiwanis.
- Put yourself out there, build your confidence, learn and expand your argument.
“You’ve paid your dues to society by fulfilling the demands of career and parenting. Instead of retiring to uselessness, you can now graduate into the global function of seership involved in the larger issues of life, the wider cultural and planetary concerns. Become a sage, charged with the evolutionary task of feeding wisdom back to society and guiding its future development.”
Sounds kinda like a gadfly, don’t you think? Those are the words of Rabbi Zalman Shachter-Shalomi in “From AGE-ing to SAGE-ing: A Revolutionary Approach to Growing Older”.
What are some of the issues out there that you feel need “biting and buzzing?” If you are already biting and buzzing, let me know in a comment below what you are gadflying – and what is working best for you.
If you haven’t already, sign up for our weekly newsletter and article at www.makeagingwork.com and receive a free ebook entitled “Achieve Your Full-Life Potential: Five Easy Steps to Living Longer, Healthier, and With More Purpose.”
Inspiring read Gary. The way you broke it down into 3 easy steps really speaks to me and is something that I can see applying to many areas of life.
Thanks Bryan. Glad you see value in my post.
Our governments should serve all the people not only the top 1%. Medicare for All, 2 yrs of “free” post secondary education for those who desire it, a livable wage, Enhanced separation of church and state.
Mark, thanks for being a subscriber. While I don’t line up with the position you take in your post, I respect your right to say it. I do, however, request that comments relate to the content of the post on which you comment. Your post seems to be more of an unrelated political comment and not relevant to the original post. I look forward to future comments that provide feedback – positive or negative – on the content of the actual post. Gary
Great ideas! And for those of us with thick skin at an earlier age, we can also do some of this especially if we have a platform and a voice already. It’s never too early or too late.
Wow, superb blog layout! How lengthy have you ever been running a blog for? you made blogging look easy. The whole look of your site is wonderful, let alone the content material!
Dear makeagingwork.com webmaster, Thanks for the informative post!
Hello makeagingwork.com webmaster, Your posts are always well received by the community.
Hello makeagingwork.com admin, Your posts are always a great source of knowledge.
Hi makeagingwork.com owner, Keep up the good work, admin!
Dear makeagingwork.com owner, Your posts are always well-supported by research and data.
To the makeagingwork.com owner, You always provide key takeaways and summaries.
Dear makeagingwork.com administrator, You always provide helpful information.
Dear makeagingwork.com webmaster, Your posts are always well-supported and evidence-based.
Hello makeagingwork.com webmaster, Your posts are always well-supported by research and data.
Dear makeagingwork.com webmaster, Your posts are always a great source of knowledge.
Dear makeagingwork.com administrator, Keep up the good work!
Hello makeagingwork.com admin, Thanks for the informative and well-written post!
Hi makeagingwork.com administrator, Thanks for the well-structured and well-presented post!
Dear makeagingwork.com owner, Thanks for the great post!
To the makeagingwork.com administrator, Your posts are always well-written and easy to understand.
Hello makeagingwork.com admin, Your posts are always well written.
To the makeagingwork.com owner, Your posts are always well-delivered and engaging.
Hello makeagingwork.com owner, Your posts are always informative and well-explained.