Find Me a Cause: An AgeLoudly® Perspective

Find Me a Cause

An AgeLoudly® Perspective

L. T. Force, Ph.D.

Gerontologist

Age Like It Matters… Because It Does!®

There comes a point in life when we need to stop asking:

“What am I going to do today?”

And start asking:

“What am I going to do that matters?”

There is a difference.

A big difference.

As we get older, we hear a lot about keeping busy.

Take a class.Join a gym.Travel.Play pickleball.Have lunch with friends.Clean out the garage.Find a hobby.

All good things.

But I think we are capable of something more….and that something else is…. stay involved….stay connected….stay engaged.

“Find me a cause - & continue to be who you know you can be”

Find me something or somewhere that needs me.

Find me something that makes me angry enough to act.

Find me something that makes me hopeful enough to participate.

Find me something that allows me to take everything I have learned over 60, 70, 80, or 90 years and put it back into the world.

That is Aging Loudly.

We Don't Retire From Relevance

One of the great mistakes we make about aging is confusing retirement from employment with retirement from usefulness.

They are not the same thing.

You can retire from a job.

You can retire from a profession.

You can retire from an organization.

But you don't have to retire from purpose….you don’t retire from yourself.

In fact, perhaps this is exactly the time when purpose matters most.

Think about what you know today that you didn't know at 25.

You know something about disappointment.

You know something about love.

You know something about loss.

You know something about raising children, caring for parents, surviving difficult bosses, paying mortgages, making mistakes, rebuilding relationships, losing friends, changing careers, confronting illness, achieving successes….and occasionally wondering how in the world you were going to make it through.

And yet—

Here you are.

That experience has value.

Don't put it on a shelf.

Your Cause Doesn't Have to Change the World

When I say, “Find me a cause,” I don't necessarily mean start a foundation or lead a national movement.

Your cause may be one person.

One student who needs mentoring.

One family struggling with caregiving.

One veteran who is lonely.

One young person who needs somebody to believe in them.

One animal shelter that needs another pair of hands.

One neighborhood problem nobody seems willing to tackle.

One church, synagogue, community organization, recovery program, school, food pantry, hospital, or nonprofit that needs what you know.

Maybe your cause is Alzheimer's disease.

Maybe it's addiction and recovery.

Maybe it's disability rights.

Maybe it's loneliness.

Maybe it's hunger.

Maybe it's protecting animals.

Maybe it's literacy.

Maybe it's helping grandparents raising grandchildren.

Maybe it's simply making sure an older neighbor doesn't spend another Sunday afternoon alone.

The size of the cause isn't what matters.

The depth of your commitment does.

Stop Asking Whether You're Too Old

I hear versions of this question all the time:

“Am I too old to start?”

Wrong question.

Ask instead:

“Am I still capable of making a difference?”

If the answer is yes—and for most of us it certainly is—then there is work left to do.

AgeLoudly® rejects the idea that aging is primarily about withdrawal.

We don't disappear.

We don't become invisible.

We don't quietly surrender our seat at the table.

And we certainly don't spend the last chapters of our lives apologizing for still having something to say.

We show up.

We contribute.

We mentor.

We advocate.

We teach.

We create.

We challenge.

We care.

And sometimes we make a little noise.

Maybe Purpose Isn't Something You Find

Here's another thought.

We talk endlessly about “finding our purpose.”

Maybe we're making it too complicated.

Perhaps purpose isn't sitting somewhere waiting to be discovered.

Maybe purpose is created through action.

You don't necessarily think your way into purpose.

Sometimes you do your way into it.

Volunteer once.

Make one phone call.

Attend one meeting.

Help one person.

Teach one class.

Mentor one student.

Join one organization.

Speak up about one issue.

Then see what happens.

Meaning has a funny way of appearing once we start moving toward something larger than ourselves.

The AgeLoudly® Challenge

So here's my challenge.

Sometime this week, sit quietly for ten minutes and ask yourself three questions:

What bothers me?

What problem do I see in the world that I wish somebody would do something about?

What do I know?

What have decades of living taught me that might actually help another human being?

And finally:

Who needs me?

Not who needs my money.

Not who needs my résumé.

Not who needs my title.

Who needs my presence, my experience, my voice, my time, my comfort….my wisdom?

Write down the answer.

Then do something about it.

Because maybe the antidote to feeling irrelevant isn't another activity.

Maybe it isn't another vacation.

Maybe it isn't another hobby.

Maybe what we need is something that reminds us:

I still matter.

I can still contribute.

There is still work with my name on it.

So if you find yourself wondering what comes next, I have a suggestion.

Don't just find something to do.

Find me a cause.

And then—

show up.

Speak up.

Give something back.

Make some noise.

Age Loudly.

Because aging isn't the process of becoming less relevant.

It may be the moment when everything you've lived through finally gives you exactly what you need to become….clearer than it has ever been….more relevant than ever.

AgeLoudly® — Age Like It Matters… Because It Does!®