Finishing Well?

I've participated in Men's Fraternity programs for the past three years (http://www.mensfraternity.com/). In the last session, Robert Lewis recommended a book entitled, "Finishing Well, (What People Who REALLY Live Do Differently)," by Bob Buford. The book is a collection of interviews with "individuals for whom age 40 and beyond has been an opportunty to further their significance rather to rest on their success." I intend to read the book over the next week and gain some insight on what patterns can been seen in how successfull people handle the second half of their time here on earth. The book jacket already gives some hints: "If people see their best years behind them, they're probably not going to finish very well," and "We can retire from our jobs but we can never retire from our calling."

What I'm anticipating to learn from this book is something I already practice; that you shouldn't define your life just by what you do for your work. Sure that's a part of it, but there has to be something more; there has to be a central theme in your life that represents greater ideas and a greater cause than your own self-interest. I'm looking forward to reading how 60 other folks describe this in their lives.....