Living To 100 ― And Focusing on the Present

Betty Reid Soskin, the National Park Service's oldest active ranger, retired last Thursday, just a few months after celebrating her 100th birthday. Her park, located in Richmond, Calif., aims to highlight the work and experiences of American civilians on the home front during World War II.

Soskin's life and leadership are the epitome of the saying “There is no finish line.”

A longtime community activist and political aide, Soskin found her calling in the parks service in her 80s. Since then, she has been a vessel of truth in connecting generational bridges, bringing greater awareness to history's untold stories on resiliency.

"To be a part of helping to mark the place where that dramatic trajectory of my own life, combined with others of my generation, will influence the future by the footprints we've left behind has been incredible," Soskin said in a National Park Service statement.

Her story is a powerful reminder that we have the unique opportunity to leave an indelible and profound mark on someone else. We do not need a title or permission slip to meet the moment of leading others and ourselves.

Realize, retirement is a mindset that usually gets manifested into our daily reality. When retirement looms, we often stop learning, unlearning and relearning. But even if we retire from our professions, we should never retire from pursuing knowledge and meaning.

If we stop learning, growing, healing, evolving and nurturing our inner child's curiosity, we stunt our personal transformation and die while technically still alive. Blossoming into our authentic selves never stops on the self-discovery journey, even if we reach the pinnacle of our mountaintop.

Betty Reid Soskin's story is filled with timeless gems. If she teaches us one thing today, understand there is no endpoint or arrival date. We are forever students.

Each day we are born again, and how we meet this rebirth is our choice. Realize there is only this moment. Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is yet to come, so let's give ourselves more grace for where we are while allowing patience and our best effort on this day to be enough.