While reading Newsweek Online recently, I came across an excerpt from a book by Sara Davidson, (insert who she is). In her book, 'LEAP! What Will We Do With the Rest of Our Lives?' published by Random House, she describes the phase in life where everything gets harder before it gets easier as 'the narrows'. This concept of the ‘the narrows” got me thinking about the past 16 months of my life.

At first, the separation last year from the Hollywood Television industry after 18 years left me free and optimistic. I thought all I needed for my next act was my deep resume of television production, a record of high ratings and a network of friends and colleagues. I envisioned my next act starting a production company and the clients would just roll in.

Then, the severance pay ran out. No one seemed to be knocking down doors to hire me. Those calls and emails were getting no replies. It’s as Davidson says, “In Hollywood jargon, I can't get arrested.”

For Davidson, this was the beginning of a period “…in the narrows, you're in the dark, stripped of what you thought was your identity, and must grapple with questions like: What do you really want to do with the time left? What will make you feel most alive? That your being here has mattered?”

I realized this is not just some new age spiritual exercise. It has as much to do with practical issues like paying your mortgage and continuing some semblance of your lifestyle. All your years of life and career experience suddenly don’t easily reveal solutions. And that pains you. It should be easier, but it’s not. You really do feel like you’re squeezing through a narrow part of your life. Your expectations become smaller. Your goals go from multi-million dollar television budgets to just trying to pay the cell phone bill.

Talk about reality checks, cold water and acts of humility. I started calling people I wouldn’t have called before and even they weren’t calling me back. Now, that’s humbling.

I was then also moved by something that was said by the country's first Boomer president, Bill Clinton, “Baby Boomers ought to reimagine how they spend their time,” he advised. For Clinton, it was a call to the country's 78.5 million Boomers to spend at least some of their time responding to the challenges of living in a newly interdependent world.

Finding meaning and purpose by remaining your life seemed too simple, too new age. For me, it’s something more. In a world more interconnected every day by technology and communication networks, we can find the resources, tools and people to help each other make it through the “narrows” of life.

I know I need a job, any job. I haven’t lived through all my years of struggles falling down and getting back up again to just surrender now.

Instead of accepting being pushed out the doors of companies or that no one wants to hire you because you cost too much, we Boomers are changing the rules. We are taking an inventory of our skills and experience and are marketing them in a way that works for us. Baby Boomers are redefining our working life and retirement.

Longer life spans, the disappearance of guaranteed multi-decade corporate jobs, and the shaky future of pensions and Social Security, are encouraging Boomers to take matters into their own hands. As a result, we’re changing jobs more frequently, starting our own businesses and creating new niches like part-time consulting for corporations.

What does this mean for Boomers? This is what I’ve learned. Whether it’s in Hollywood or in Akron, it will always be about “who you know”. Review and explore the networks created through years of work, social groups including religious houses of worship, recreation (those golf and bowling leagues aren’t the only way we play), and professional organizations. These relationships can open doors to your next act.

Dream your “Dream Life” and build it! Don’t be afraid to go from creating for a purpose, because you must, to creating for the joy and the challenge of the adventure. One day at a time with goals and a plan. There will always be risks but when wasn’t there?

As Sara Davidson says in her book, “While there's no single route through the narrows, I can tell you that there's sunlight and air at the other side.”

You can either careen through your Boomer years with no goals, purpose or plan or you can sail through it with a map in front of you and a lifetime of experience pushing your sails.

Antonio Pedro Ruiz earned his Hollywood reputation as a seasoned executive producer of Live Events for E! Entertainment Television; building a pop culture icon, the Red Carpet. Then one day, that great corner office was up for sale, the regular paycheck cane to a screeching halt and he was digging through 18 year old memos while he packed his career into a box. Still trudging through Hollywood, Ruiz now is also building a website for Baby Boomers looking for their next acts in life, http://www.aboomersnextact.com