Hour of the Wolf: An Experiment in Ageless Living.

AuthorEngland, Arthur J., Jr.
PositionBook review

Hour of the Wolf: An Experiment in Ageless Living

By Paul R. Lipton

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Some lawyers translate their life experience into a novel, or share their perspective of the law or the government as they knew it. Paul Lipton has done something in Hour of the Wolf that is unique and far more important. He has overlaid his personal life experiences with an insight that offers readers an ageless verity that routinely eludes almost everyone--the loss of day not lived in full is time irretrievably lost. The opening sentence of his book says it all: "One day. Once gone, it is gone forever. It can never be recaptured."

Paul draws on what we've all experienced: the wakeful moment at two or three a.m. in the night when sleep gives way to unbidden thoughts of mistakes and bad things that happened during the day. But Paul has refused to be defined by the Hour of the Wolf, and instead found the courage to assess, adjust, and overcome bad decisions and not be their victim. He postulates that anyone can escape the midnight mind, and shows how each day holds the possibility of change and the excitement of the next day's adventure.

For example, Paul finds it corrosive to be asked if he is a "senior citizen," which carries society's implied limitations and definitions for him. Instead, he has chosen not to discriminate against himself by an arbitrary age number (however well-motivated), but to define what has value for him on a daily basis. Drawing on his personal travels, readings, a life-threatening health experience, and a range of personal, business, and family tragedies and friendships, Paul found that he could be present in the moments of a single day. Actually living each day in the present was found to be more rewarding than wasting time thinking what a good day might be. And that meant making conscious choices that were real, and not fanciful.

In his work and in his personal relationships, Paul is a man who listens to others, discards the undoable and...

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