Is repurposing your life hokey?

Among the dictionary’s synonyms for “hokey” are “sentimental” and “mushy.” Other sources say the word means piein-the sky — which is how some people view the idea of repurposing their lives.

I used to be in the hokey-thinking crowd. The thought of consciously repurposing one’s life was foreign to me. Yes, you could get better at certain skills. But to deliberately change one’s life purpose can be a formidable undertaking. It’s a giant hurdle to leap over.

My long-held belief was that personal change is a gradual process. Yes, there can be defining events that shift our “reason for being.” One example is an illness. It could trigger a transformation that leads us to take a different road.

I also believed that such a life course change typically begins with an idea. Then, suddenly and inexplicably, it seems as if the world conspires to reaffirm your idea. You read something, you see something, or someone says something to you. And you take these disparate events as signs reinforcing your initial idea.

My consideration to eventually repurpose my future began by chance. In a sidebar conversation with my eye doctor last year, I shared with him the satisfaction I had gotten from informally counseling heartsurgery patients. It’s something I have done periodically since my quadruple bypass 20 years ago. He proposed that I consider doing that now (after getting proper training).

The doctor’s idea intrigued me. I did not, however, see his suggestion as a repurposing of my life. But as months went by, I noticed words such as “purpose” and “repurposing” popping up frequently in the media.

Then it seemed the manufacturing industry got into the act of deliberately repurposing things. Their goal was to modify physical plants and equipment for new uses. And consumer-oriented groups began urging the public to use products for more than one purpose.

Even my 6-year-old grandson seemed to be into deliberate repurposing when, one day, he said, “Look, Grandpa, I can use this small stick (a tree limb) for many things. Like a back-scratcher, a cane to help little people walk better, and as a BB gun.” He held the limb up to his face, pointed it up to the ceiling and yelled, “Bang, Bang, Bang.”

I thought of my grandson’s stick insight as another sign. This added to my now serious shedding of my “hokey” attitude about deliberately repurposing one’s life.

Two other incidents turned my head to repurposing. A colleague knew of my monthly columns. I had also shared with her my idea of becoming a heart patient counselor when I retired.

She said, “You should write a column about “repurposing one’s life.” She also suggested I read the novel “Little Paris Bookshop” in which the characters deliberately reinvent their lives in a single month.

Then there was Vicki Thomas, a neighbor, a former business executive and a cancer survivor, Vicki and her colleague had started a Connecticut based group called “My Future Purpose,” myfuturepurpose.com. On their site they have the following words, “Get inspired. Get motivated to find and discover what brings you joy."

Vicki covered a range of topics about learning to pivot in times of crisis and how COVID helped some individuals find new future purposes.

She was inspiring when she said, “At 75 I’m a leading-edge Boomer and I’m not done yet. I’m going to look for new ways, not to earn a living, but to make a difference in the lives of others. My Future Purpose is one way.”

So, is it hokey to talk about repurposing our lives? I have come to think not. Yet, it’s doubtful most of our futures will ever be re-routed because of dramatic events or apparitions like the three ghostly appearances who visited Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Mr. Scrooge, a lifelong tightwad opened his wallet, his heart, and found a new purpose.

The conscious repurposing of one’s life can result from an external event such as a pandemic. Or from an illness (as in Vicki’s case). It can also result from committing ourselves to act on a belief or idea we have held.

Then there are people like me plodding along, slowly becoming aware by chance or signs that there is another purpose ahead for us. And it’s our good fortune to have realized that.

I have taken my eye doctor’s advice about a possible future purpose, and have spoken with my cardiologist. He is now looking into how I might enhance my heart patient counseling skills.