1. La
Divina
Commedia
Creating
the
life
and
career
you
love
in
the
Second
Half
of
Life
By
Peter
de
Kuster
with
Falco
Valkenburg
You
Can
Lead
the
Life
of
Your
Dreams:
Dante’s
Divina
Commedia
Dante
was
right.
You
can
have
a
Heaven
in
the
Second
Half
of
your
Life.
You
can
lead
the
life
you’ve
always
wished
no
matter
your
age
or
stage
in
life.
The
dream
you
think
has
become
impossible
with
advancing
age,
new
obligations
or
increased
responsibility
can
be
made
real.
The
hope
you’ve
been
deferring
until
a
time
when
the
stars
in
the
skies
above
Florence
are
in
perfect
alignment
can
be
fulfilled
today.
The
goal
you
think
out
of
reach
because
you
traveled
an
alternate
path
is
still
within
your
grasp.

2.
You
can
give
up
your
present
career
at
50
and
pursue
your
dream
of
becoming
a
writer.
You
can
leave
a
deadening
retirement
behind
and
start
a
second
career.
(and
travel
to
Florence
first
to
study
art
history).
You
can
give
up
having
a
successful
business
career
and
instead
start
a
career
with
more
meaning.
You
can
launch
a
business
now,
despite
not
having
quite
clear
how
and
what.
But
you
Take
a
Testdrive
in
Your
Dreamjob
to
provide
for
this.
You
have
an
opportunity,
as
in
the
Divina
Commedia,
not
just
to
reinvent
yourself,
but
to
create
a
true
heaven
by
becoming
your
true
self.
To
give
expression
to
your
suppressed
hopes
and
dreams;
to
take
the
dream
you’ve
kept
dormant
in
the
dark
within
you,
expose
it
to
the
warmth
and
light
of
Italy
and
let
it
burst
forth
into
life.
Almost
all
of
us
have
buried
personal
hopes
and
dreams.
In
order
to
please
our
parents,
our
friends,
our
spouses,
our
business
partners,
we’ve
molded
our
lives
into
what
the
outside
world
wants
us
to
be.

3.
To
win
and
keep
love
we’ve
acted
in
certain
ways
and
followed
certain
parts.
We
lived
a
certain
lifestyle
or
lived
in
a
certain
place.
To
become
accepted,
first
by
our
friends
and
then
society
at
large,
we
have
adopted
certain
stories,
convictions,
attitudes
and
behaviors.
We’ve
allowed
the
outside
world
to
draw
up
schedules
and
checklists
for
us
against
we
judge
our
own
worth.
Not
earning
Euro
100.000
by
forty?
Loser.
Haven’t
retired
early
and
moved
to
the
south
of
france
or
spain?
Failure.
Comparing
ourselves
to
these
external
standards
often
brings
misery
and
self
hatred:
Either
we
despise
ourselves
for
not
measuring
up,
or
we
despise
ourselves
for
not
being
true
to
our
own
selves.
You
understand
now
which
wolves
chased
Dante
in
the
woods?
Good
news.
There’s
never
been
a
better
time
to
revolt
against
external
standards
and
to
be
true
to
yourself.
We’re
living
in
a
transitory
time.
Society,
culture
and
the
economy
are
all
shifting.
The
old
myths
about
work,
retirement,
old
age
have
lost
most
of
their
power.
We’re
lucky
enough
to
be
alive
in
this
moment
when
anything
is
possible,
at
the
moment
perfect
for
Creating
a
Life
and
Work
You
Love
in
the
Second
Half
of
Life.

4.
It’t
doesn’t
matter
if
you’re
widowed,
seventy
years
old
an
living
on
a
fixed
income.
It
doesn’t
matter
if
you’ve
to
kids
in
a
college
and
thousands
of
euro’s
in
debt.
It
doesn’t
matter
if
you’re
a
workaholic
professional,
or
an
unemployed
manager
or
a
burned
out
salesperson.
We
have
seen
all
these
people
create
a
life
and
work
they
love.
We
can
help
you
too.
Dante
will
guide
you.
Is
entrepreneurship
part
of
your
dream?
Technology
and
improved
health
make
it
possible
for
anyone
at
any
age
to
start
a
business.
Society’s
attitude
toward
older
entrepreneurs
have
changed.
Older
individuals
more
active
today
than
in
the
past,
with
work
involving
less
physical
strength
and
stamina.
You
don’t
have
to
put
your
savings
at
risk
in
starting
a
business
right
now.
No
one
has
a
right
to
tell
your,
“No
you
can’t
do
that’
‘You’re
to
old
to
do
that’
–
not
even
that
negative
and
domineering
little
voice
in
your
head.

5. There’s
no
scorecard
or
measuring
stick
you
need
compare
yourself
against
other
than
the
one
in
your
own
story.
Ultimately
there’s
nothing
that
stands
in
your
way
to
heaven
other
than
internal
inhibitions,
insecurities,
and
fears.
The
hell
of
Dante
is
inside
you.
As
is
his
heaven.
Creating
a
life
and
work
you
love
in
the
second
half
of
your
life
won’t
be
painless.
You
may
need
to
make
sacrifices
and
compromises.
You
might
need
to
learn
new
skiss.
And,
it
may
take
some
time.
But
a
new
life
of

6.
substance
and
meaning
can’t
be
built
in
a
day.
This
is
one
journey
when
a
litlle
pain
(hell)
and
a
bit
of
fear
(another
hell)
are
problably
good
things.
If
your
journey
is
painless
and
you’re
not
afraid
of
it,
you’re
not
launching
the
new
life
you
truly
desire.
We
believe
with
Dante
that
when
you
keep
your
dreams
locked
away
in
inner
darkness,
they
begin
to
eat
away
at
your
soul.
But,
by
exposing
those
repressed
dreams
to
the
light
and
pursuing
them,
you
lift
your
soul
to
unimagined
heights.
Simply
by
telling
your
story
of
your
own
Divina
Commedia,
giving
yourself
the
possibility
of
a
new
life,
you
begin
to
feel
like
a
new
person.
Reinvent
yourself,
and
you’ll
experience
more
added
joy
and
contentment
than
you
can
imagine.
Your
Divina
Commedia
doesn’t
just
change
the
specific
aspect
of
your
life
that
you’re
reinventing;
in
invigorates
your
entire
life.
Skeptical
that
a
journey
in
the
Florence
of
Dante
can
help
you
live
the
life
of
your
dreams?
Maybe
you
think
you’re
too
old.
Perhaps
you
feel
that
your
opportunity
has
passed.
Certain
that
you
can’t
afford
it?
Or
are
you
doubtful
launching
a
Divina
Commedia
can
really
improve
your
life
in
all
the
ways
we’ve
outlined.
Don’t
worry.
We’re
not
insulted
by
your
disbelief.
Almost
everyone
is
initially
dubious
when
we
say
you
can
create
a
life
and
work

7.
you
love
after
50.
It
will
tearn
your
life
from
black
and
white
into
the
multicolor
of
Florence.
All
we
ask
is
give
us
a
chance
to
outline
our
story.
What
do
you
have
to
lose?
In
picking
up
this
travel
guide
we’re
safe
in
assuming
that
either
you
feel
somewhat
uneasy,
dissatisfied
or
unhappy
with
your
current
life,
or
you
dread
a
retirement,
or
you’ve
a
buried
dream
you’d
like
to
resurrect
and
pursue.
You’re
fed
up
with
being
fed
up.
Give
us
the
opportunity
to
show

8. you
in
this
guide
of
Florence
how
we
reinvented
ourselves,
how
Dante
did
and
how
you
can.
To
raise
the
curtain
on
your
Divina
Commedia,
all
you
need
to
do
is
tell
a
story
about
your
dream.
Who
better
than
Roberto
Benigni
to
guide
you?