Insights
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Many of my blogs close with a few optional questions—simple prompts to help you pause and reflect more deeply on the topic, if you wish. You’ll also find links to books and other resources that connect directly to each theme. Think of them as invitations, not assignments—tools you can use privately, in your own time, to carry the conversation further.
Live fully. Contribute wisely. Leave a legacy.
Joy in the Third Period
Last week I wrote about walking with our elders, about listening instead of leading. That same posture of humility, patience, and attention is also the soil in which joy grows. As C. S. Lewis wrote, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.” It is not a feeling that depends on ease or circumstance,...
Walking With Our Elders: A Challenge to Listen and Learn
In the final months of my father’s life, every moment felt like a lesson in presence, humility, and listening. As I walked alongside him, I entered a new kind of terrain. It wasn’t about taking control or reversing roles. It was about honoring his autonomy, wisdom, and dignity. His stories,...
Acorns, Oaks, and the Power of Noticing: Reclaiming Potential in Life’s Third Period
This past weekend, I tried out the advice of two voices in human flourishing, Arthur Brooks and Ellen Langer. Their message is simple but powerful: if we want to rediscover joy, counter negativity, and unlock our potential at any stage of life, we need to train our attention to notice and give...
The Third Period of Life
One of the reasons I first began thinking about life in “thirds” came from an unexpected place: my son’s youth hockey career. He played goalie, and I learned how much games can change in the third period. What happened in the first and second didn’t always predict the ending. The lesson was clear:...
What Aging Reveals About Us
Aging is not just a personal journey; it also reflects society's values. How we treat our elders, how we discuss aging, and how we get ready for it reveal what we truly value. I began to see this clearly as I walked with my parents into their 70s and 80s. I observed resilience and humor, the kind...
The Power of Ideas that Stay With Us
When asked about three books that influenced me, my response came quickly. Some works leave a lasting impact, not because they provide easy answers, but because they open new ways of understanding ourselves and the world. For me, these three books have laid a foundation for how I now think about...
Why I Chose to Write About Aging
Aging is inevitable, undeniable, and deeply part of the human experience. However, despite its universality, it is often described inaccurately and incompletely. Common narratives reduce aging to decline, limiting possibilities, shutting doors, and a time when our contributions decrease. My...
The Beauty of Patina — and an Abundant Perspective on Aging
I believe the later years of life are full of possibilities, growth, and meaning. Today, I want to share both a metaphor and a mindset that help me understand this more clearly. I live on a property with a restored 100-year-old dairy barn. Its wood, stone foundation, iron hardware, and steel roof...
The Science of Our Patina
Today, I want to elaborate on the idea of patina by linking it to what science uncovers about the later stages of life. One reason we struggle to see aging clearly is the negativity bias. Humans tend to notice threats and losses more readily, and they remember them longer and with greater detail...
Coming Early 2026!
Is it possible to flourish in the final third of life?
Too often, aging is framed only as decline—marked by limitations, losses, and endings. This book challenges that narrative.
Blending research in positive psychology, neuroscience, and well-being with practical tools and lived experience, Along the Road reframes the final third of life as a season of growth, meaning, and contribution. It offers frameworks for navigating life’s later chapters, exploring how mind, body, and soul can remain sources of vitality. It provides practical approaches to cultivating generativity, resilience, optimism, and wisdom—while crafting a lasting legacy and achieving a fulfilling end.
The book is both roadmap and companion: a guide for anyone entering—or already in—their mid to later years who longs not just to endure but to flourish.
“Live fully. Contribute wisely. Leave a legacy.”
Gordon Parry is an author, consultant, and coach dedicated to helping people flourish at every stage of life. A graduate of Penn’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology program and co-founder of Authentic Impact and The Hesly Center, he blends research and practice to unlock human potential. MORE ABOUT GORDON
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Omaha, NE 68164
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Recent Posts
The Transformative Power of Turning the Other Cheek
“A feeling of lack is simply a call to give.” — Gene Plumstead “It will feel better when it quits hurting.” — Ron Searcy These two insights, one from Gene Plumstead, father of my friend, mentor, and professional colleague, the other from a man I love and admire, my...
Reclaiming Hope in the Midst of Chronic Illness
Recently, I’ve talked with friends and family dealing with chronic health issues, each of them strong, capable, and once very healthy. For all of them, the onset occurred later in life, an unexpected part of their sixties and beyond. Their stories are different, but...
Flourishing With Eyes Wide Open: The Real Story of Positive Psychology
Positive psychology is often misunderstood as a “feel-good” project centered on happiness and optimism. While this misconception is easy to repeat, it is far from reality. The field is deeply rooted in ancient philosophical traditions, grounded in rigorous science,...
The Return to Possibility
There was a time, not so long ago, when I found myself standing at the edge of cynicism. I was not only standing but also moving toward it. After decades of leading, teaching, and believing in human potential, I had lost touch with the very qualities that once...
Joy in the Third Period
Last week I wrote about walking with our elders, about listening instead of leading. That same posture of humility, patience, and attention is also the soil in which joy grows. As C. S. Lewis wrote, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.” It is not a feeling that...
Walking With Our Elders: A Challenge to Listen and Learn
In the final months of my father’s life, every moment felt like a lesson in presence, humility, and listening. As I walked alongside him, I entered a new kind of terrain. It wasn’t about taking control or reversing roles. It was about honoring his autonomy, wisdom,...
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