WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

He was 50, a successful systems manager from Marshfield, and stuck at an unwelcome crossroads.

Like millions of others in mid or later life suddenly downsized, ''outplaced'' or bought out of careers they hoped would last a lifetime, he faced that most daunting question: What will I do with the rest of my life?

For openers, he signed up for a ''life design'' workshop, complete with personality tests and counseling to create a list of options. Armed with that, he and his wife invited a half-dozen creative friends for a potluck supper/ brainstorm session.

The man, who asked that his name not be used, then sat back as his friends tossed out more ideas than he imagined existed.

Today, several months later, he has yet to make a decision, but is still high about his options, including his favorite, opening an ecotourism retreat in Central America.

In the bad old days, few would have had his problem, for the life pattern was brutally simple: You worked until your body gave out or you hit your company's mandatory retirement age of 65 or 70. Then you quit -- and dropped dead a few years later.

But two colossal trends have changed that, throwing millions into much- desired leisure -- and millions more into anguish.

In 1950, 46 percent of men -- and 10 percent of women -- were still in the workforce at 65 or older, and among those 55 to 64, federal figures show, 87 percent were still employed.

Today, only 12 percent of people 65 or older still work, says Scott Bass, director of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts/ Boston.

''One of the strange things that has been happening is that while life expectancy has been going up over the last three decades, the age at which people retire. . .has declined dramatically,'' says Richard Suzman, chief of demography for the National Institute on Aging. ''People have a long period after retirement in which they are perfectly healthy and cognitively competent, and the question is: What do they do?''

Today, with mandatory retirement virtually abolished and most people quitting work, in good health, between 55 and 65, the average person has 20 years or more of life to fill.

''Can you imagine retiring at 55 and having 45 years of life left?'' says psychologist Margery Silver, who studies people aged 100 or more. ''It's kind of overwhelming to think about.''

It certainly is.

For half of the nation's 52.4 million people aged 55-plus, filling these years is a nonproblem. They retire because they want to and are happy playing golf or watching the grandkids.

But for millions more, including many seduced out of long-term jobs by pension plans sometimes geared to do precisely that, the years yawn endlessly.

More than 6 million want to work but can't for one reason or another and a nearly equal number want to work but can't find jobs, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based philanthropic foundation.

Some older people -- about a quarter -- find some sense of purpose with a few hours a week of volunteer work. But many others founder, believing their inability to find something meaningful to do, paid or unpaid, is their own fault.

It usually is not.

The anomie older people face ''is not an individual problem, but a structural one,'' says Bass. ''If it were individual, it would be more easily treated by therapy or counseling. What we have is a transition of society, that's what the struggle is.

''We need to create job counseling and volunteer placement programs that don't exist now. The ladders and paths and training that are available for young people leaving school and seeking work are not nearly so accessible to older people.''

And while companies help people plan the financial side of retirement, there is often no planning for a ''social portfolio,'' adds Dr. Gene Cohen, who heads the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University in Washington.

A common fantasy, as people slide toward the mature end of their careers, is that they can scale down to parttime work, to get the best of both worlds. In 1993, economist Thomas Juster of the University of Michigan surveyed nearly 13,000 people aged 51 to 61 and discovered that three-quarters wanted just that.

But most employers don't buy into the part-time dream and ''it's not clear why,'' says Juster, who will soon release the next wave of data from his Health and Retirement Survey.

Some do achieve the ''partial retirement'' that everyone craves, adds sociologist Mark Hayward of Pennsylvania State University. ''But they tend to be the ones who had autonomy and intellectually satisfying jobs to start with. In other words, they had power -- and they are in demand.''

Such structural problems notwithstanding, there are remedies if you find yourself adrift in later life.

The first, says psychologist Carol Ryser , founder of Affiliates for Adult Development, Inc. in Bedford, a career advice service, is acknowledging what work meant, such as self-esteem and camaraderie and finding ''equivalents for that.''

Erlene Rosovsky, a Needham psychologist who specializes in problems of aging, warns that you may have to work through feelings of depression and rage if empty days were not your choice. But after that, she says, write down the specifics of what you liked best about work, including whether you preferred working behind a closed door or cheek-by-jowl with others. Then rank and weight these needs for a roadmap for your future.

In Belmont, Gardner and Ellen Yenawine have turned a similar common sense strategy into four-day ''Life Design'' workshops for groups of 6 to 14 people. (The workshops, which draw raves from once-lost souls, cost $1,900 if a company pays, less if you pay yourself.)

But caveat emptor: You don't just plunk down your money and let the experts do the work. In fact, you could take at least some of their ideas and get to work on your own.

Before the workshop starts, the Yenawines give you a battery of aptitude tests, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Jackson Vocational Interest Survey and the FIRO B questionnaire, which are scored by Gardner Yenawine, an educational psychologist, and Ellen Yenawine, a consultant certified to administer the tests. (Since such tests are not widely available, it's tough to do this part on your own.)

You then write an autobiography, noting what experiences inside and outside of work have been most significant, who and what you care most about, your beliefs, and so on.

Once the workshop starts, you temporarily assume a new name to dislodge you from your old work-identity ''box.'' One man, for instance, chose ''Mr. X'' because he knew so little about himself, another, ''Whistler,'' for whistling in the dark.

Then you take a detailed look at the week just passed. Assuming there are roughly 100 hours a week not used for eating and sleeping, you jot down how much time and energy (physical and psychological) you spent in work, relationships, emotional-spiritual-intellectual development, fitness and leisure.

Almost immediately, Ellen Yenawine says, people recognize imbalances they want to rectify.

As the workshop progresses, you become both coach and coachee in one-on-one sessions to tease out strengths, pipe dreams and realistic goals. Six weeks later, there's a follow-up session for progress reports, which can sometimes be inspiring.

Two years ago, Harry Foden, now 71, was reluctant to leave his job as a vice president at Arthur D. Little ''unless I knew I had something constructive to do.''

To his surprise, the workshop helped him recognize the centrality of something he had long loved, the church. He now volunteers in the planning office of the Archdiocese of Boston three days a week.

Frank Miklavic of Wellesley tells a similar tale. A year ago, at 56, he was vice president of human resources at the Shipley Co. When the firm was sold and his department downsized, he ''went to Yenawine to see what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and I came out with four options to pursue,'' he says.

It was not all smooth sailing. ''I wouldn't want to give the impression this was a nice straight line,'' he says. In fact, the exercises force ''you to look inside real hard.. . .There was a lot of soul searching, a lot of dry spells and wondering what the future was all about.''

But Miklavic now has his own human resources company -- and some advice for others who worry that their lives are over because their first careers are.

''Lots of people have gone through this. It's okay -- if you don't quit on yourself. Don't give up hope when you're feeling really devastated,'' he says, ''and seek the help of others.''

P.S. Another inspirational tidbit: Nearly 200 people 60 or older are running in today's Marathon, including nine over 70.

WHERE TO CALL

For more information on what to do with the rest of your life, you might look in the Yellow Pages, under Career and Vocational Counseling. Or call:

- Operation A.B.L.E., 617-542-4180.

- Massachusetts Psychological Association career counseling referral service, 617-720-1546.

- SCORE, Service Corps of Retired Executives, 617-565-5591.

- For information on RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program), Foster Grandparent Program, the Senior Companion Program and other programs, try the Executive Office of Elder Affairs at 617-727-7750 or 1-800-882-2003.


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