Retirement Talk for Boomers, Seniors, and Retirees

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.

Dealing with regrets is a topic that was suggested to me by a loyal listener. I thought I could deal with it but it is proving more difficult than I could imagine. I like to look at the present and the future. Dreams seem to be about the only time mistakes of the past surface.

We got an email from a friend a few years ago when he was celebrating his 88th birthday in Sarasota, Florida. "Going to dinner with my granddaughter and her Dad. Got myself a massage and just got home from my playwriting class. Busy day for an 88 year old."

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. We may already have found meaning in our life and just not recognize it as such.

Yes, we retire. The 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. Now we must give meaning to our own lives.

Kids fall down and skin their knees. Football players fall down and bounce up - usually. My mother fell down at age 89 and never regained her health. Her fall led to surgery and then the nursing home and then the grave. We need to be a bit more careful about falling as we grow older.

Detail has never been my forte. Not in anything. As a member of the retirement community I find it most challenging and interesting to try to change this age old habit. Old habits become part and parcel of who we are but that doesn't mean that they have to stay.

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.

Retirement offers a different challenge for us when looking ahead. We have never been down this road. We have our own little idiosyncrasies that may make our decisions different from anyone else. We need to prepare for an adventure.

One thing we all learn as we grow up is that sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. It is the nature of a contest. It is the nature of life. It is a hard lesson to accept. Perhaps some people never learn. Either that or they never grow up.

A fellow colleague used to get up at 5:30 every morning so that she could meditate before work. She claimed it was better than sleep and that she, "Couldn't live without it". That might not be a bad idea.

What we do with ourselves or with 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.

Do we remember what has happened in our life? Or do we remember just parts of what happened in our life? The parts we like. Or do we remember what we wish had happened?

Some of us make aging difficult by refusing to accept it. It is just as silly as when we are on the other end and irritate people by refusing to "grow up".

Sometimes I think 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. That we all have rights and responsibilities to everyone else. That would be different.

Retirement has to be one of the more significant milestones we can experience in life. They give us a sense of where we are. They give us something to see, something to point towards or something on which to reflect .

Grit has always been one of my favorite words. It means business; nothing fancy here. But 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.

Good health will end. Life will end. We need to consider that in our decisions about what we are doing with our life on a daily basis. A recent statistical study shows I have about five more years of good health ahead of me. What to do?

One of the pleasures of retirement is hearing a voice from the past calling you to re-establish contact. Our work life sometimes reaches out into our retirement life and touches us. It has a way of warming our old heart.

Popular culture focuses on the youth. Life goes through a continuing process of replicating itself. Of course that is good - in a way. But hard to accept when you are the one being discarded.

Neighbors are important and we might all find more comfort in life by engaging those close by rather than spending all of our time reaching across the world via Facebook for friends. We could at least give it a chance. It isn’t an all or nothing choice. There is no reason we can’t have both.

Everyone has stories to tell. Technology makes it possible for all of us to record our stories and share them with grandchildren and others. We love to tell them and we love to hear them.

I always just assumed that most people would be just like me and look at retirement as a gateway into freedom. Freedom to make a life, or create a life of your own choosing. Well, I was wrong. And wrong by a long way.

When it comes to retirement and getting around, the best answer seems to be to choose your location carefully. If you can walk and find anything you might need, or want, the problem of getting around can disappear – along with your car.

Within two days the whole world had turned. She was receiving lots of smiles back. People were laughing and talking with her. She was soon being invited to coffee or lunch. The next 14 years were very exciting and some of the happiest of her life.