To let go of attachments to physical, psychological and social attributes requires being fully functional in these areas. Detachment requires a body and mind that can take care of basic needs with only minimal intervention and monitoring by the calculative mind. Social aging is mainly a process in which society loses interest in the participation of aging people. Society willingly, even eagerly, lets aging people go. For example, Americans usually complete the launching of their children into adulthood by their early 50s, and most retire from employment in their early 60s.
Society assigns no new responsibilities to aging people other than to be self-reliant.
Many choose a simple household life that revolves around familiar and satisfying tasks and activities. Focusing attention on everyday activities can be an opportunity to focus on the task at hand instead of on the world of thought, which can foster the development of both mindfulness and a quiet mind. Most retirees also spend significant amounts of time alone, and this time alone tends to have a transcendent quality, either in terms of meditative activities or activities that transport the person out of the personal self. The potential for spiritual development during this time spent alone is obvious. By late middle age, most adults have considerable experience with materialism and social achievement, the conventional prescriptions for personal contentment, and at best find them unpredictable sources of life meaning.