The Next Chapter with Charlie

For the last 20 years, I was an Executive Coach to CEO’s of larger corporations. Now I am moving on to MY Next Chapter. I invite you to join me in this journey. It makes no difference if you are retiring or making any significant change to your life. We are all on the same path. So tune in and tag along as we give insights and inspirations on how you can create your own NEXT CHAPTER. We will talk about “what you can do next.” It might deal with transition, desire, curiosity, loss, or anything else that has to do with our Next Chapter in Life.

#114 Charlie: Apathy-The Dark Side 06/12/2019

#114 Charlie: Apathy-The Dark Side Show Notes Today Producer Paul and I plan to have a conversation on what seems a deep and yet pervasive onslaught of apathy both culturally and individually we are experiencing today. Apathy is a strange bird. Psychology Today calls it the “emotionless emotion.” Jimmy Buffet, said it best, “I’ve been wondering if what I am feeling is ignorance or apathy. Hell, I don’t know and I don’t care.” In Psychology Today I read, “Paradoxically, what makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. And doubtless, it’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. We all have. For whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the motivation or drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “emotionless” emotion.” So at the heart of apathy, is a feeling that “something vital is missing from your life.” You feel you have nothing worthy of your effort to pursue. There is no anticipation of hope, and without hope life becomes almost pointless. In Victor Frankl’s brilliant book documenting his psychological state in a Nazi concentration camp he clearly stared that it was only HOPE that kept people going. All of the drivers of meaning and fulfillment have dissipated to a point of a profound disinterest in all that motivated you in the past: a cause, your job, your most meaningful relationships, your worthiness in pursuing something essential in your own estimation. In my observation apathy occurs in two conditions: First is what Paul is most intrigued with and that is an a culture of apathy regarding politics and religion and the second is what I am calling personal apathy and that is when you get a case of the “I just don’t give a shit.” Let’s deal with the second one first. Personally, for a few weeks now, I have been in the doldrums of a bit of apathy. Activities that once inspired me I find rather unexciting. As a very passionate person this feeing is rather disconcerting. “I just don’t care about what I desire to care about: I no longer paint, I spend less time writing, and even my volunteer commitments have suffered. I still do what is required but I am not currently satisfied by it. My feeling is that I just want to quit everything. But, obviously, that is not the solution because somewhere deep inside I still love all these activities. For more with Charlie Hedges please visit www.thenextchapter.life /episode/index/show/thenextchapterwithcharlie/id/10129241

#113 Keith Page: Dying Wisely-Stuff You Need to Know About Death 06/05/2019

#113 Keith Page: Dying Wisely-Stuff You Need to Know About Death Show Notes Are you ready for yet another conversation about things we are not supposed to talk about? We’ve done religion and politics, now I want to learn about dying and how we can best prepare for the inevitable. My guest today is an expert on the subject and, no, he is not a mortician. My special guest is Keith Page, a funeral celebrant who works closely with families in the midst of a death. Keith’s focus is to prepare people of all ages of how to manage the entire process of dying. Let me read a piece Keith gave me before the show: “Death is a vast mystery but there are two things we can say about it: it is absolutely certain that we will die, but what is uncertain is when or how we will die. The only sure thing we have, then, is this uncertainty about the hour of our death - which we use as an excuse to postpone facing death directly. Instead of dealing with it as a normal part of life, death is treated as an unexpected emergency; something that happens when the medical community fails. We always die of something - as though if it weren’t for that disease or accident we could have lived on. Very often those who take time to plan arrangements with death also end up having made new arrangements with life. After they know they are going to die, people often live and die well. We’ve all heard stories of what happens when people find out they have a limited time to live. Many finally start living well. They simplify their lives, spend time with those they love, slow down and get around to doing many things they had put off.” So that’s our topic for the day. Taken from 'Tibetan Book of Living and Dying’ by Sogyal Rinpoche and ‘From Beginning to End - the Rituals of Our Lives’ by Robert Fulghum. You can contact Keith Page at keith@keithpage.org Also check out www.deathcafe.com For more with Charlie Hedges please visit www.thenextchapter.life /episode/index/show/thenextchapterwithcharlie/id/10052786