The Wonder of Aging

The topic of aging after fifty is frequently only discussed in terms of health: what are the physical symptoms that come with advanced age, and what can we do about them? This book aims to look at aging in a new spirit: as something that is positive and life-giving, showing how miraculous our second half of life can be. In providing research and anecdotes that help readers discover a new paradigm for aging, bestselling author Michael Gurian focuses on four aspects of life after fifty, showing how aging affects people physically, mentally, relationally, and spiritually. In this kind of holistic focus, he shows how we becomeelders.

Gurian divides life after 50 into four stages: Stage 1: The Age of Transformation. This is the stage of life from the late forties to approximately sixty. Stage 2: The Age of Distinction. This stage of life lasts from approximately sixty to seventy-five. Stage 3: The Age of Completion. This stage involves completing our life-journey, both together (if we are still coupled) and alone, if our spouse has passed on or if we are divorced. He developed these stages in response to both scientific and anthropological information, and in response to the needs of his clients, who sought help understanding where they were and what to expect in the second half of life. Our culture has focused very well on staging childhood, adolescence, youth, adulthood, and middle age, but resources regarding the stages of age after fifty are scarce. Gurian also discusses sex, how men and women age differently, the effects of aging on the brain, and what to expect in the last chapter of life. Miraculous Age provides a full, holistic, and comforting roadmap to what to expect in the second half of life, and indeed, how to celebrate it.