Retirement Talk for Boomers, Seniors, and Retirees

I think of retired people I know who love to watch birds. They get outside; fair or foul. They travel around the world to see different species. They send money to organizations to help protect birds or bird habitat. Retirement would be well spent if one were to focus on birds.

Does music come to mean something else when one retires or moves into the later stages of life? Perhaps Nietzsche’s most acceptable aphorism was: "Without music, life would be a mistake."

This is the second part in a series concerning a trip to Puerto Vallarta and thoughts of moving south for retirement. Here are two examples of folks that did just that.

We tend to develop daily routines. Aristotle knew that and advised us to take care with the routines that we establish. We are habitual creatures, he said. He claimed that we are good people because we have developed good habits. I believe that. I know that I'm a creature of habit.

I know that whenever I talk of doing something in the future my daughter's advice rattles around in my mind, "Don't wait too long."

What wakes you on a daily basis? How do you get your news? Do you control it? It might be worth giving it a bit of consideration. Something to think about.

A week ago a vascular surgeon inserted a stent into my iliac artery and on up into the aorta. The aneurysm was big and could pop any time. The aorta was clear but just below that was trouble waiting to cut my time just a bit short at any moment. Symptoms?

39,000 feet and feeling miserable. My eyes burn; my butt is numb. I'm scrunched; trying to be thin. Is there a secret to flying that I haven’t figured out?

My education and culture have taught me very little about the benefits of sitting still. Many of us approach retirement with the idea that we must keep busy. We must continue to be "active" and for us that means moving or traveling.

"Individuals who have a strong sense of meaning and purpose generally have better health, recover quicker from illnesses, and typically live longer". This is a quote from one of the many health newsletters we receive. It is a publication from the Wellness Council of America.

That’s the thing about working with your hands. When you finish the job you can run your hand along a smooth surface, take a picture of it, sit on it or put things in the drawers. You can even show it to other people and bask in momentary praise. It’s real.

Years ago I came across some happiness advice that has never failed me. I liked it because it worked for me and I loved the name of the originator, Baruch de Espinosa: or, Spinoza. "Spinoza knowza", I used to tell my philosophy students.

I knew that if I stayed there just a bit longer I would become the evening meal of some carnivore. Considering the absurdity of life I thought about it. Then I moved on. Hope is something else that is in our genes. All of our ancestors possessed that gene as well as the one that told them to look around.

Health issues become more and more personal as we move into and through retirement. Our interest and attention become very relevant individually. They have a way of grabbing our attention.

Retirement is a time when a list might be as important as ever. As we enter the latter stages of life our time becomes more important. That is why we have a tendency to slow down. We don't want to rush life.

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.

"Picking a Fight" is not something our parents told us was a good thing to do. Perhaps we need to rethink this advice. Retirement might be the perfect time to look around and pick a fight with some bully.

A good thing about vacations is that it shines a new light on the life we now live and the life we may want to lead. We can lay out plans, read travel logs, browse book stores and magazine racks, and have something to dream about when we take our afternoon nap.

The bottom line remains firm. You just have to spend a bit less than you earn. You might be surprised by how much pleasure can come from a walk in the woods compared to a cruise in the Aegean.

How great are your needs? Do they expand with every paycheck or salary raise? Were we kidding ourselves about how much we loved our job and really were working for the money? I mean if we quit working and receiving a check do you suppose we would still go in every day and help out for free? We needed to answer all of those questions.

I feel like I must relate a few lessons learned on this winter trip. They might help you think about ramifications if you may someday consider taking off during the cold season.

"I Like Being Old", is the title of a book I recently came across. It is written by k. Eileen Allen. She is a 90 year old woman who is blind. She says she likes being old and I believe her.

Some of us want to know what is around the bend. We want to move on. Perhaps it is just a simple case of the grass always being greener; the longing for that which we don’t have. It might pertain to our geographical location or our tasks or work at hand.

Nietzsche advised us to step out on the edge and take a chance. He urged us to do something different with our lives. "We need to break ourselves in two," he said. And then create an even greater self.

I recently read of a Barbie Doll who is connected to the Internet via wi-fi. It hears your voice and responds similar to Seri but it remembers everything and can thus personalize each response instantly. Imagine something similar to this in the hands of an isolated senior? A new best friend and listener may be as near as Best Buy.