Finding Purpose After 50: The Power of Stillness & Perspective

What if the key to finding purpose after 50 wasn’t about doing more, but about being still? In this soulful conversation, I sit down with Larry Weingarten, author of The Philosopher’s Wrench, to explore how stillness, curiosity, and perspective can transform not only how we work but how we live. Larry’s story -- part contractor, part philosopher -- reveals how fixing what’s “broken” on the outside often begins with quiet repair on the inside. Show Notes | Transcript You’ll hear practical and profound insights on: Why stillness is a radical act of self-leadership after 50 How perspective can turn life’s breakdowns into breakthroughs What intentional living really looks like when you stop chasing and start listening Larry also shares lessons from his cat – namely, what our feline friends understand about life that humans have forgotten. If you’ve built, led, and served, and now feel called to redefine fulfillment on your own terms, this episode is your invitation to pause, breathe, and come home to yourself. Resources: Join the Soulful Women's Network: https://www.facebook.com/groups/soulfulwomensnetwork Receive daily inspirational email messages: bit.ly/LoveLightNotes Need support? Go to engagewithgloria.com to schedule a call. Connect with Larry Website: www.larryweingarten.com Book: The Philosopher's Wrench: Using Your Creativity, Heart & Tools to Fix the World Connect with Live Love Engage: Send Gloria Grace a message ☕ Support the podcast ❤ Love this episode? Leave us a review and rating LinkedIn: Gloria Grace Rand Facebook: Gloria Grace Rand YouTube: Gloria Grace Rand TRANSCRIPT Host: Gloria Grace, Founder of Align to Shine Academy Guest: Larry Weingarten, Author of "The Philosopher's Wrench" Episode Focus: How problem-solving mindsets can heal spirits and transform businesses Episode Introduction Gloria Grace: Namaste. Are you tired of seeing problems as roadblocks when they could actually be doorways to deeper wisdom? Well, stay tuned as I chat with a master problem solver who's going to share how the same mindset that fixes broken things can actually help to heal our spirits and businesses, too. Welcome to Live Love Engage, especially if this is your first time joining us. I am Gloria Grace, the founder of Align to Shine Academy, and I empower women over 50 to step into their highest potential with clarity and confidence. My guest today is Larry Winegarden, author of "The Philosopher's Wrench." He's a contractor who's been working with his hands for over 50 years, learning about fixing problems—both technical and human. He enjoys helping people and animals and respects the land that raised him. From Physical Tools to Life Tools Gloria: I'm really interested to talk with you because this has been a fascinating book so far. You're not the typical contractor I've encountered—you're much deeper. I'd love for you to share how you started making that connection between fixing physical objects and fixing human issues and emotional things. Larry: Well, if I look at tools, the word "tools," what comes to mind first is a pipe wrench, metal tools, power tools. But there are bigger tools if you think of it. Hope, particularly—very powerful tool. If you look at what hope can do versus what a pipe wrench can do? Hope can save lives. I've used it to prevent suicides. It's a very powerful tool. Acceptance is a tool. Being present or presence is a tool. So I had to step out of my comfort zone, which was just playing with pipes and metal things, and learn how to be of greater service. That's where working with the bigger tools has let me do a whole lot more. A Water Heater Story: Doing What's Right Gloria: Can you share a story about maybe fixing something like a water heater that taught you an unexpected lesson about life? Larry: There was a client who had a gas-fired water heater in his crawl space. It was unsafe in so many ways: Not properly vented—the vent pipe just went up against wooden floor joists and stopped The temperature and pressure relief valve had been capped off Not properly earthquake strapped (I'm in California where this is important) There were at least three different ways this water heater could kill the owner. I wouldn't leave the place until I had fixed all of that. I wasn't going to expose him to that risk. He wound up getting mad at me for basically not allowing him to be killed by his water heater. Gloria: Why do you think he got mad? Larry: Plumbers have a bad reputation—"what can I do to increase the bill?" But I like to be the plumber that goes around and saves people money by making their water heaters last five times the normal lifetime. I think he was scared, and justifiably perhaps. He may have been burned in the past by somebody else. Using Hope as a Tool: Preventing Suicides Larry: I was part of an investment situation where I lost a lot of money, and a number of other people lost all of their retirements. They were seriously talking about suicide because they had no idea how they could keep going. So I gave them different perspectives to play with, different points of view, and said, "How about if we did this or went down this road?" I know for certain that I prevented four suicides in that case because I helped them figure out a way to see hope. Hope is a really powerful tool. The Power of Quiet Mind and Business Success Gloria: You mention in your book about the power of openness and a quiet mind. How can our audience—women entrepreneurs who watch this show—apply those principles to business challenges? Larry: I try to find at least 30 minutes a day to have quiet—meaning no outside noises, influences, or electronics. But also making my mind still, letting my subconscious come up. Getting rid of all the noise so that what's been hiding in my subconscious can come up and be seen. My best ideas show up when I quiet my mind. Gloria: How did you develop this practice? Larry: As a five-year-old, I was told that my mom would very likely die of cancer. Before that, I was just a happy kid. After that, I couldn't even speak—I had to write notes to people. I was so anxious. I learned how to speak again by figuring out almost a little self-hypnosis trick of making things quiet inside so I could get past that block. Once I could do that, I thought, "Let's see if I can be quiet for longer." I found that if I could get that same quiet and expand it out for half an hour, all kinds of neat things happened. Things I forgot to do would pop up. My subconscious would present whatever I'd been missing—whether new business ideas or who I should be getting in touch with. From Law to Trades: Following Logic Larry: My father was a lawyer and really wanted his sons all to be lawyers. I saw what a messy trade that is—it involves people who make no sense at all. No logic. Everything is different. You can't trust what judges do. I thought physical things I'm pretty good at, and I like to deal with physics. It's concrete—you know what's going on. It all makes sense if you take the time to understand it. I can see corrosion processes in my mind or heat transfer going on. It just all makes perfect sense. Living Off the Grid: Efficiency and Independence Gloria: You live off the grid, which is something my daughter used to talk about doing. What's that been like for you, and how does it inform what you do in your life? Larry: I built this house you see around me and finished it roughly 20 years ago. It's off grid. The way to make that happen is to make it really energy efficient. This house uses about a tenth as much energy per square foot as the standard American home. I would have had to run 2/3 of a mile underground power line to get to the house—that would have been roughly $75,000 at the time. Instead, I spent about $5,000 to build a small solar system with battery storage. I saved $70,000, and my power doesn't go out. The going rate for housing in my area was around $250 per square foot. This house cost about $100 per square foot to build. Being efficient and off grid can actually cost substantially less. Practical Energy Efficiency Tips Gloria: How can we start moving towards being more self-sufficient and energy efficient? Larry: Start with what you can do with your own house to make it much more efficient. [Shows thermal camera image] This is a cat walking on carpet, taken with a thermal camera—a little plug-in device you can add to your phone called a FLIR one. Those footprints you see show how sensitive it is to heat. Imagine looking at your house with a camera like that, both inside and outside. You can see where the heat is leaking out and tell exactly what needs to be fixed—whether it's air leaks, thermal bridges, or whatever. For apartment dwellers, there's been a movement called "Guerrilla Solar" where you put your own photovoltaic panels in a window or on a porch and create your own power. Also explore whether your power company offers energy audits and tool lending programs. Life Lessons from Cats Gloria: You mention cats in your book, and I can see you're a cat lover like me. What lessons have you learned from being around cats? Larry: I have a cat named Prince who teaches me all kinds of things. Whatever he needs shows up for him. If he's hungry, food shows up. If he wants to play, everything is a cat toy. Life is real simple for him. If he wants my attention, he zigzags in front of my feet as I'm walking. I've never tripped over him or kicked him—I'm careful that way. He acts on what can go right. Humans act on what can go wrong. We think the saber-tooth tiger is lurking around the corner, but Prince knows his basic premise: "What can go right? I want the human's attention, so I'm going to zigzag in front of him." Always works. I've rescued kittens that were like a month old,...