End-of-Life Planning from Your 50s: The Moment You Think 'I Am Pitiful,' Life Stops

End-of-Life Planning from Your 50s
—The moment you think 'I am pitiful,' life stops

In your 50s, turning 60 or reaching retirement age starts to feel like a reality. When you suddenly look around, all you see are people who seem successful, and you may feel depressed, wondering, 'What was my life all about?'

However, what you should really be wary of is not the judgment of others, but labeling yourself as 'pitiful.' With that single phrase, your journey up to this point becomes fixed as a 'tragedy,' and you lose the strength to move forward.

To my peers who have caught sight of this text: the fact that you have lived this long is, in itself, an achievement. You have made countless choices, worried, suffered, sometimes hurt others, and carried regrets, yet you are still living today. Please, first quietly acknowledge that reality.

And for the time ahead, the following three perspectives will serve as your support.

First, redefine your journey as something 'valuable.' Regardless of whether you have a family or your social standing, the background of having survived for several decades contains experiences and insights that only you possess. Acknowledging this becomes the foundation for your next step.

Next, give shape to that life as a 'story.' We live in an era where anyone can share their voice. It does not need to be under your real name. By writing about your experiences and thoughts through a fictional character, you can look back at your life objectively. Autobiographical fiction is an effective means of organizing and reinterpreting your life.

Finally, leave the evaluation to time. It does not matter if what you write is not immediately recognized. Even Kenji Miyazawa and Van Gogh were not appreciated during their lifetimes. This is because value is not always understood by one's contemporaries. Just by having the sense that 'this might reach someone,' a person changes from an isolated existence into an expresser connected to the future.

Whether to leave something behind, and what to leave behind, is a domain you can decide for yourself. The evaluation of others is not the essence. The act of leaving something behind itself affirms your life and has the potential to become a support for someone else.