Retiree Rebels: Ditch The Rocking Chair!

When was the last time you were so engrossed in learning something, the time flew by? The luxury of allowing yourself not to scan a piece of information, but truly fit the pieces of learning together in your head, just for you. Sounds like something out of a fairy tale, no it’s a freedom - the freedom in retirement to learn. In this episode's "Ask Mary Helen" she answers a question she hears a lot from retirees. What do I do with my time? Time is the one non-renewable resource in our retirement and so the variety of activities are endless and daunting as well. Her answer: Develop a personal learning project. Listen in on her suggestions.  

If the time has come for you to downsize, forget the rules about tossing out unused dishes or out-of-style furniture.You can’t take it with you, and your kids probably don’t want most of it, so downsize. Carol Larson says the only rule you need in culling your stuff is, “love it or leave it.”

  You’ve still got game! Author Tim Forbes says retirement is a great time to rekindle your sense of play through recreational sports.  But which sport is right for you? Something traditional, or maybe one of the newly invented games (think Pickle Ball or Foot Golf) now attracting seniors? Either way, indulging in Fun and Games can mean a healthier and happier retirement.

Find yourself becoming more impatient as you get older? Less interested in doing battle with unreasonable people?  You’re not the only one.   Carol Larson takes a sword to the myth that says we gain patience as we get older.

Dr. Jerry Apps discusses the importance of creativity throughout one's life. He uses the motto taken from Harry Chapin's song, All My Life's a Circle to spur all adults to find the passions to keep your life alive. That which we were introduced to when we were young, will return in our lives after full time work. Be of some worth. As you provide for others, you're doing for yourself. Tell your story! Farmer, educator, writer, do what you love. Listen to Jerry Apps, storyteller, and lover of every life's passion. The Chapin Foundation was contacted and granted permission for the use of the song, All My Life's A Circle, for this podcast.  

Is Ageism Like Sexism?  It feels the same. Being told you can't do certain things, not because of your individual abilities, but because you belong to a group society thinks is less capable.In this Kitchen Table Talk, Mary Helen Conroy and Carol Larson explore the similarities between the sexism they experienced in the 1960s & 1970s, to what is happening to seniors today. And they make a plea for your help in coming up with language to help articulate the new social struggle for age equity and fair treatment

Research tells us that 1 in 5 adults over the age of 50 are lonely. Research also tells us that being able to make our 'work buddies' into 'play buddies' allows us to live healthier and happier lives. But, how do we make friends as an older adult. Mary Helen Conroy discusses the seven tips on making friends. As Bette Midler said, 'ya gotta have friends'.

In this week's episode, Divorcing Your Job, Carol Larson uses the metaphor of divorce in viewing the changes inherent in retirement.Listen as she discusses the similarities of these two major changes on a person's life, from property settlements, alimony and how both change how you define yourself. Also, she cautions how both situations can cause a person to feel "untethered," often taking years to reinvent yourself.

There is really a difference between a change and a transition. Carol Larson and Mary Helen Conroy talk about how we deal with the turbulent times retirement brings. How we can adapt to this transitional time in our nearly and newly retired times is critical to making a change that creates a new you. Change things up...new information creates new lives. 

Retirement, a time of joy and relaxation. True! A time of loneliness and depression. True. The statistics on loneliness and retirement are dismal. However, Mary Helen Conroy, life coach and change strategist discusses a variety of ways that retirees can rebel against loneliness and engage with new ideas and people.

It's time to do our own thing! After years of working for someone else, retirement allows folks to choose what they might want to "do".  According to the Small Business Administration, more than five million Americans age 55 and older run their own businesses. Carol Larson discusses businesses that were started by retirees. No sitting in the rocking chair for these amazing folks. Whether it's selling electric bikes, life coaching, or helping the elderly keep their financial house in order, these entrepreneurs are living their passions.  

How do you feel about having 168 hours of free time? For this Kitchen Table Talk, Mary Helen Conroy and Carol Larson discuss having more time on your hands than you're used to, which can be both a blessing and a curse. So you're retired and you've had your first cup of coffee after you left the office. Now the 168 hours of the week are yours. What happens to us as retirees is that we're off the drug of adrenaline, the drug that had kept us going each day at work. Investigate how you might think about "I have nothing to do today!"  

Retirement requires new tools in our life tool box. Having talked about the tools of review and retreat, Mary Helen Conroy now adds the tool of reinvention. Some folks term this time, reintegration as we piece together our likes, our desires and blend something new. Listen to how you can reinvent yourself as this new transition in your life begins.

Part-time jobs are not just for kids anymore. More and more retirees need to continue working after their "retirement"  to supplement their income. Some just need to get out of the house. But regardless of the reason, it's hard to find a job. Ageism is rampant. Carol Larson discusses the realities of part-time employment.Do you want fries with that? 

Generating JOY is a prescription Dr. Cheryl Woodson of Chicago, Illinois applies to herself as well as her patients. She is a physician, wife and mother, author of several books on caring for the aged and now mystery book author under her nom de plume, Teria Robens! Listen to Cheryl chat with us "grown folks" about her frank and candid advice as a Retiree Rebel.

Ah, Retirement, the waking up each day and happily sighing that life is good and all is well. Maybe for some. Carol Larson and Mary Helen Conroy discuss the important topic of what the first year of retirement is really like. The bliss might be dampened by depression, loneliness and even the 'shakes'. Forewarned is forearmed when it comes to the first year.

The second tool of reinvention is Retreat. Corporations spend millions of dollars on retreats. Times and places that encourage employees to strategize and create. Our second tool of retreat does the same for us as we begin to reinvent ourselves during retirement. It urges us to spend some time alone to allow the possibilities of our future to unfold.   

Just because you're retired, doesn't mean you're dead. Carol Larson talks about how retirees need to move away from the ageist stereotypes of being old, doddering or near death....because you're not done yet!

Carol Larson interviews Sonny Knight, the 66 year old ex-trucker who's living his dream as lead singer in Sonny Knight and the Lakers. Listen to his story and his music, amazing!

Carol Larson, Emmy award winning journalist and writer discusses the newly and nearly retired's need for sleep. Exhausted, we need sleep. Sleep, sleep, perhaps to dream!