This book covers a lot of territory that is not covered in the usual retirement literature. Along the same lines of it's namesake: [b:What Color Is Your Parachute? 2015|22931722|What Color Is Your Parachute? 2015|Richard N Bolles|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410800467s/22931722.jpg|42502415], it poses questions to consider. The subtitle of this book: Planning a Prosperous, Healthy and Happy Future, gives a small hint of the breadth of material it covers.

From the Preface:
"I prefer to think of life in terms of music. My favorite metaphor is that of a symphony. A symphony, traditionally, has four parts to it - four movements, as they're called. So does Life. There is infancy, then the time of learning, then the time of working, and finally the time that we are talking about, often called "retirement." But if we discourage the use of the word "retirement," then this might be better called the Fourth Movement."

"The Fourth Movement, in the symphonic world, is a kind of blank slate. It was and is up to the composer to decide what to write upon it. Traditionally, the composer writes of triumph, victor, and joy - as in Beethoven's Symphony #3, the Eroica. But it may, alternatively, be a kind of anticlimactic, meandering piece of music - as in Tchaikovsky's Symphony #6, the Pathetique. There the Third Movement ends with a bombastic, stirring march. The Fourth Movement, immediately following, is subdued, meditative, meandering, and sounds almost like an afterthought."

"Well, there are our choices about our own lives: Shall the Fourth Movement, the final movement, of our lives be pathetique or erotica - pathetic or heroic? Your call!"

"I like this defining of our lives in terms of music, rather than in terms of work."

"To carry the metaphor onward, in this Fourth Movement of our lives, we have instruments , which we must treat with care. They are: our body, our mind, our spirit, and what we poetically speak of as our heart, which Chinese medicine calls "the Emperor." Body, mind, spirit, heart. Some of these instruments are in shiny, splendid conditions. Others are slightly dented. Or greatly dented. But these are the instruments that play the musical notes of this time of our lives."

"The traditional notes are: sleep, water, eating, faith, love, loneliness, survival (financial and spiritual, health care, dreams (fulfilled or unfulfilled), and triumph -- over all adversities -- and even death." (Page ix)

"The nicest compliment any of us can hear as we grow older is: 'What a passion for life she still has! Or, he has! It's thrilling to be around them." (Page xi)

A few interesting points from the book.

After moving, we usually don't keep in touch with friends from where we moved from.

The relationship with one's spouse usually intensifies. If it was bad, it usually gets worse, if it was good, it usually gets even better.

As with other books in the Parachute series, there are exercise, but fortunately, a lot fewer than in the namesake book. ( )

Brilliantly done!: Little is missed in this comprehensive guide into re-wirement. With some guidance from a good coach, there no reason why readers shouldn't find thier true path and the joy it brings in their Second Act. As a Certified Retirement Coach and a re-wired corporate manager, I recommend this book to everyone who is thinking about their next stage whether it's eight years or eight days away.

Donna Boone's Office