Retirement Talk for Boomers, Seniors, and Retirees

You don't have to go far to feel like an explorer. There is more novelty and more surprises waiting just around the corner. It is this daily discovery that keeps me smiling.

When I launched this project I was discouraged with information available on retirement that did not have to do with investments and finances. It appeared that the only concern in retirement was money. My own experience of being retired told me that there was much more to retired life than money.

It is important that a health directive be clear and be known to those who might be involved in your manner of death. It makes me think that I need to be a bit more active along this line.

It is important to share information from one generation to the other. Just today the New York Times had an article about the importance of sharing family stories from one generation to the next. It claimed that this history gives stability and a sense of identity to children.

"Two roads diverged in the yellow wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." R. Frost

It is no fun being stuck. Retirement can have this effect on us. We can feel strapped to our past or our present. We can't seem to conceive of a reason to do anything.

IIt was Family Day in Canada - a national holiday. It was the first one ever. Seems like a worthwhile title for a holiday.

Retirement introduces a special element to our reading life. We can feast over the entire reading realm. There are no limitations; sort of like our earliest experiences. We can read for pleasure alone.

Retirement gives us time to think about the past. Mistakes, bad decisions, regrets and empty dreams come to us - many times in the depths of night. But to mull over the past and dig up old hurts to me or committed by myself doesn't appeal to me.

One worn out piece of advice that seems to hold true all of our life is that we need to "pick our battles". Retirement has its limits. We are older. Our bodies do not move like they once did.

We love a road trip in the family car. We feel free - and like we are truly on vacation. We are now making our plans. We are enjoying the stage of anticipation according to the cult of happiness.

Finding meaning in our lives was the topic of the previous podcast. I wanted to continue that train of thought. We know having meaning in our lives is important but sometimes we have trouble finding it. Many times It may be more of a problem of recognizing it.

Finding meaning in life seems to be a never ending quest - sort of like pursuing more air to breath. Parents, teachers, bosses and our own children no longer control us and they no longer give meaning to our lives. We are on our own. Many of us are still pursuing that topic.

Musicians fall in love with their instruments. Artists fall in love with their creations. Kids fall down and skin their knees. Football players fall down and break their necks. We need to be a bit more careful about falling as we grow older.

Though the change is slow it does happen. Spinoza would love it. It is that ever changing motion in a positive direction that brings happiness according to him. He convinced me.

What brings us happiness is so very relative. If we have just finished eating food we don't like or aren't satisfied we can go crazy over something familiar and filling. If our hands are cold a good pair of gloves can seem like a god send. Happiness is all about improving our condition.

I know people who pride themselves on how many miles they travel in one day. I have a hard time understanding this type of living. If you are truly interesting in enjoying a road trip here is a suggestion that may help you adjust to retirement.

Sometimes we just want to do nothing or at least whatever it is that we are supposed to be doing. We have no energy and no impulse to try to find some. We just want to lay low. Is there something wrong with that?

What we do with ourselves, our family or friends when death comes is important to some. I don't think it is important to the ones who die but it is to those that are left behind. We need to be comfortable with the decision.

Sixteen months ago my primary care doctor told me I had developed Mild Cognitive Impairment(MCI). In lay terms that means I am losing my mind. It could happen slowly over the next few years or it could happen more quickly. That seems like a life changer.

How much of our life do we really remember? I have a hard time even considering the question. I like to think that I remember what happened in detail. When I launch into a story at a dinner party I have no doubt in mind as to the details. How wrong can one be?

Age has a way with all of us. Time is a universal leveler. We have our day in the sun and then it is over. We learn as children that we had best prepare for the future.

We should start a new political party entitled "We". It would be based on the premise that we should help and care for one another. We have rights to our privacy and our public life. We have responsibilities to ourselves and to others. We would try to turn paying taxes into a bragable activity.

Milestones are like mountain peaks - they give us a sense of where we are. We locate ourselves in relationship to them. That is what birthdays, graduations, marriages, moves from place to place, job changes, and deaths are all about. Retirement has to be one of the more significant milestones we can experience in life.

Grit. The word has reappeared lately relating to child rearing and educational philosophy. There is no doubt in my mind that grit is needed in all phases of life including retirement.