Kenn (attended the The Elders Way Retreat in 2020)
I was able to explore with guidance what unresolved baggage I brought to the age of 62 that might be unhelpful to me going into the realm of living well and entering into old age.
Seeing how to live life with the ability to make use of my life’s talents and gained wisdom and shown by the team what that can look like I could choose to embrace the notions of what being and Elder can be.
I found that my internal desire to be a part of life with a new purpose enhanced by this experience is giving me more sense of my own worth and self-esteem .
Harry
“I am recommending this program to you on the basis of my own experience. I have attended The Elders Way twice, the first time in my late 50’s.
At that stage in my life I was looking back on a career that was a bit hit and miss. I wanted to leave\ behind some “footprints in the sands of time” but looking back, nothing had changed. All the good work I had done had come to nothing. Stuff that I had achieved along the way was being re-visited, dismantled, rebuilt or just plain forgotten. It felt like it was all in vain. And the future, therefore had nothing to offer.
One day I shared this bleak future with Peter and Wes and they recommended The Elders Way. I responded and came away from with new-found vigour. I found out that I had stuff to live for; even stuff to offer the next generation. Some of the stuff was as easy as just turning up. This is known as “witnessing” in Elder speak. I had forgotten what it means to a young bloke to have an older bloke take an interest in him. I had discovered that I had a real future as an older bloke.
Fast forward a couple of years and I was ready to go again and have another serve of the fantastic Elders Way menu. There was stuff that I wanted to develop further with these guys, and I found it was equally rewarding the second time around.
So, if you have been thinking about stepping up to the Elders Way plate but haven’t quite made the decision yet, please allow me to give you the final little push over the line.
And a final thought: to all the guys out there who have already done the program, why not do it again, like I did?”
Gary (attended the The Elders Way Retreat in Dec 2018)
I’m a massive supporter of the program and I think it should be compulsory for all men who have left or are in the process of letting go of their formal careers. This is a big transition and catches the majority of men unprepared.
It can get confusing and overwhelming at times. From my point of view it is much wiser to get a handle on where you want to be in the next stage of life.
Eldership is definitely worth exploring and a little guidance goes a long way !
I was so resistant to taking part last December but I’m now very thankful that my partner and Derek helped me pull my finger out and get switched on ! Money was one of my initial concerns. How dare I spend that much just on myself. What about the family ? The family want a happy man who loves his life and is looking to the future with some sense of wonder and excitement. By the time I came home from the retreat the money side of things had become completely irrelevant. I had cleared a lot of the emotional/painful baggage I was carrying and was left with a heap more energy. I had a much clearer sense of direction, a strong feeling of more connection with everything and some real excitement around new ideas. I hadn’t felt that for a while.
Just a tired draftsman plodding along with the day to day.
The facilitators are truly inspirational guys. You can trust the guys, be honest with them. Be courageous. You will see clearly and explore deeply – don’t worry, they have big hearts and a lot of experience and will guide you to the place you want to be to begin true Eldership.
I feel strongly about this kind of ‘menswork’ and not enough men know that inner work like this is out there for them. Maybe other guys come to mind in your social/work circle that you believe would benefit. I think , big picture, we men as individuals need this kind of ‘nourishing’ as a balance to just working ourselves into numbness. This is especially true for me as I get older. It also helps that the larger community sees men doing something about change for the better and hopefully spreading the message.
