Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life
By Jo Miller
@pjmurphy (2498)
United States
February 19, 2019 2:45pm CST
In 1981 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter left the White House after a stunning defeat in the 1980 presidential election. They returned to their modest home in Plains, Georgia angry, humbled, and unsure how they would spend the remaining years of their lives.
The former president was fifty-six and his wife fifty-three at that time. He said he "...awoke to an altogether new, unwanted, and potentially empty life.....It was deeply discouraging for me to contemplate the unpredictable years ahead."
Six years later the couple wrote a book about this time in their lives called Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life.
Thirty-two years later and still going strong in their nineties, the Carters seem to have learned their lessons well about how to live a productive and successful life.
Regardless of where we are in our lives, there are probably lessons we could all learn from this little book.
7 people like this
7 responses
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
19 Feb 19
He built many houses here for the poor with the help of volunteers, in a project called habitat
https://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1999/03/26/jimmy-carter-leads-volunteers-in-building-houses-for-the-poor&post_id=13275
3 people like this
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
19 Feb 19
@pjmurphy they are blessed and they know how to share their blessings.
2 people like this
@pjmurphy (2498)
• United States
19 Feb 19
@louievill They've accomplished many things is the past three decades.
@1hopefulman (45111)
• Canada
19 Feb 19
We can either waste the rest of our lives or we can live it. It's up to us?
1 person likes this
@JWMILLER (3275)
• Westmoreland, Tennessee
19 Feb 19
The Carters are an altogether an admirable couple. Just as they were entering the time of their retirements, they had a great failure in their lives. They could have let this destroy them, but the did not. They went on with what they had to build a wonderful life for themselves and left a legacy of good will for others, through their books and their work in Habitat for Humanity and the the Carter Library in Atlanta. They are very admirable and giving people. He still teaches Sunday School at their church in Plains.
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (37621)
•
23 Feb 19
Our life is a journey sometimes good and sometimes rocky. Adopting a positive attitude to overcome the hard times is very important as the Carter's demonstrated. Life flies by in no time so we need to make the most of it!
1 person likes this
@norcal (4889)
• Franklinton, North Carolina
19 Feb 19
I think Jimmy Carter is our greatest ex-president. He's done so much with his life. He was always a good man, if not a great president. The country loved his born again Christian goodness, his plain speaking, and his casual dress. His heart was in the right place, but he was not a politician. The oil crisis and the economy were big problems for him, but his ultimate downfall was his failure to rescue the hostages. He sent in the military to try, but the mission failed. If they had succeeded, I think he would have gotten his second term.
1 person likes this
