Retirement Talk for Boomers, Seniors, and Retirees

Graphs and charts: One dealt with the average life span. I still have 17 years left according to statistical data. Another dealt with how much time we have left after arriving at age 65 to enjoy good health.

Retirement has its moments of isolation and then again it provides us time to reestablish contact with moments and people from our past. There is something about reaching into the past and touching one another that makes retirement so sweet.

People used to work until they died and for the most part live in an extended family structure where some recognition was assured. Today's retired people face a true challenge in this life quest. We must create a means of being recognized.

Is there anything more important than a good story? And I might answer, "Very little". If there is one thing that we retired folks possess more than younger folks is the number of stories we have in our bag. We have had experiences that come only with time.

Is it so important - to be politically astute? We all know the correct answer to that question. Our elementary teachers taught us that democracy demands an educated citizenry. It is easy to see the need.

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. It isn’t an all or nothing choice. There is no reason we can’t have both. It just takes a little time and effort.

We try and fail at many things in life and that isn't always bad. But perhaps my old history professor was right in his thoughts concerning why we study history. Best to learn from other people's mistakes or failures.

Those new to retirement and having a tough time figuring out just exactly what they want to do with this new phase of life could do well by asking themselves what they really like to do. And by that I mean things they like to do so much that they lose themselves in it.

We all grow up in our own worlds. Our experiences are different from our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, or people that live across town. No wonder we have differences with people in other communities, states, or countries. No wonder we have different reasons for retirement plans.

What we learned as a teenager, a college student, a mature adult, a parent, and citizen intertwines and forges a strong yet pliable state of mind. We can afford the time to sit back and consider. When we do, a retired state of mind emerges that gives us the most comprehensive picture of the world we will ever have.

"The good old days". Did the good old days ever exist? I've heard people talk about them all my life and yet I have never had a desire to revisit any of my old days. Not only have I not had a desire to visit any of my old days but I have never had a desire to visit any old days.

Making a list is not my favorite thing to do. But we are retired. We have different priorities. What is important has changed. But if you haven't got a living list in mind you might find one in writing to be valuable.

Who among us doesn't want to be loved? Maybe retirement is the time to become a magician. Or whatever else you dreamed of when you were a child. Or whatever you dream about now that you are retired. I'll bet with just a few years of practice most of us could learn to pull rabbits out of hats.

Now I find that if I really want to do something good for my brain I would lace up my running shoes. No kidding. Exercise. Exercises like big body movements are what really perk up the old brain.

How many times have you forgotten something? I can't remember how many times I have forgotten something. It must number in the millions or at least the hundreds of thousands. "Senior Moments" some folks call them. l don't like that label.

Retirement usually comes to us in our sixties and it is at that same age that our parents are moving into their eighties. It is also at this time that our children are moving into their thirties and forties - the time for splitting up - divorce. There are very likely grandchildren that may need some attention from grandparents.

When the end nears and you ask the question; "Did I live as I wanted?" or "Did I do what I wanted in my retirement years?" it would sure be nice to be able to answer with a firm "yes".

Two weeks ago the wife of a good friend of mine died. She was 66: three years younger than myself. Cancer. Two months elapsed between diagnosis and death. Two months. Sort of puts an edge on things.

Retiring calls for learning to shift gears in a big way. We may make a few mistakes. We may grind a few gears as we adjust, but change we must. We know we want to move in another direction but we may not be aware of where or how. It is like sitting behind the wheel of that car when we were 15 knowing that we wanted to go somewhere but not knowing exactly where or how.

"If you take care of your feet your feet will take care of you". Whenever I say that my wife and my grandchildren roll their eyes. I usually don't say it around anyone else. Feet are something we do not talk about.

We retired people have one big advantage over others. We have been around the block. We have “seen it all before”. We do have some years behind us. We've seen many changes. We have a history. This movement from one crisis to another; one doomsayer's story after another has a numbing effect: the boy crying wolf effect.

Retirement offers us a chance to reignite the imagination concerning what we can do with our life. We are no longer young and we cannot aspire to some things that require a youthful body. But other than that we are free to explore to our hearts delight

Retirement affords us a special time in life when we can pick and choose how we spend our time. One could do worse than making movies a big part of retirement. Music, dance, visual art and drama all come together. I'm constantly amazed.

One time after a snowstorm I went with him to brush the snow off the wings of one of his planes. Under the snow the wings were covered in fur. He was trying to see if fur would change the performance of the plane. He made a profession of poking life.

Brenda and I had careers that were mental not physical. We worked mostly with our minds. We were teachers. When we retired one of our delights was to build things with our hands. We wanted to be able to see the results of what we did. Household projects have filled this role to a T.