Retirement Talk For Boomers, Seniors, And Retirees

Words have a way of sometimes getting us into trouble; take the word waffling. Now that word has a negative connotation. No question about it. However, it might indicate a pause in the mind to consider or think of alternatives.

No wonder that retirement comes as such a shock to the system for many of us. We have never had to really engage our mind independently of family, school or job. It is no wonder that a person can be 60 years old, very well educated, skilled and competent and yet say, "I don't even know who I am. I don't know what I am."

Retirement gives us time to pause with poets both living and dead. We could do worse than spend some time in their world. Poetry has a way of staying with us. It becomes part of our blood. It is concise, meaningful, and nourishing.

There are many ways around the mountain. I guess it is up to each of us to find our own route. We know that without good health life itself disappears. That tells us how important it is when we consider what we are doing with our life on a daily basis. It is always best to put health in first position.

What is the key to keeping healthy in life? There are about as many theories as there are people. The older I get the less attention I pay to all of these "secrets to a long life". What I like are ideas that fit in with what I am already doing.

Conversation depends on sharing some experiences that two or more people can discuss. Retirement presents a different problem. We don't see the same people every day. We don't have common goals. We tend to become isolatos in our own houses.

Imagine retiring and moving to Mexico. Last year I met this guy in Vancouver who was off to join his retired friend in Puerto Vallarta. The friend was living out his retirement dream. He was running a school for dump children at the city dump in Puerto Vallarta.

Trying something new can be a real treat for retired people. It just takes getting up off of the couch and walking out the door. Sometimes that isn't as easy as it sounds but it can certainly add a new dimension to the retirement experience. It just takes that first step.

We don't have to wait for the future to see the results. Yet, many people call it false and talk of it like it is a fantasy. Our grandchildren's generation is being referred to as the "hot generation". They will live in a different world.

That is it with retirement isn't it? We don't know what we are supposed to be or do. We have no parents to tell us what to do or not do. We have no teachers to direct us. And we have no bosses or supervisors to dictate our efforts.

I assume we all agree that we should all pay our fair share of taxes. We owe it to our country; we owe it to our children and we owe it to our founding fathers who struggled to insure life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

How can we stay focused or even get focused on something we really want to do? This is where priorities come in. We have to establish them with careful thought and approach them with dedicated effort.

Eileen examines life closely. There are things to worry about in life. There are setbacks, but seeds of a new beginning always seem to be present. There are people out there who have mastered the art of living, including retirement.

Life is filled with examples of people who could not learn something and then at a different time they seem to master whatever it is. Retirement brings time into our lives when we are allowed to explore some of these areas where we might learn something that has escaped us thus far.

"I don’t own a thing", said Diane Athill, a British editor and writer. She has just recently moved into an assisted living facility. "And I love it", She added, "For the first time in my life I feel free".

Poverty isn’t good for anyone. When the least fortunate suffer we all suffer. Who would want to live in a mansion that is surrounded by squallier?

For us it was: a temperate climate not hot and not cold. We wanted a university in the town and we wanted it on the west coast, close to mountains and salt water, close to a big city (Seattle and Vancouver in this case), not so small that we would know everyone and not so big that we couldn’t feel like part of the community.

Retirement is like that. Life is like that. It isn’t that you grow Dahlias, write the great American novel, or build a better boat. The questions to answer are: Does it work for you? Are you committed? Do you understand what you're doing with your life and why?

Giving meaning to life is important for all of us. We need to feel that we have something for which life is worth living. If ancient religion doesn’t provide it then something else must.

One thing about retirement: it gives us time to slow down and try different ways of living than those that have dominated our life through custom, convenience and habit. "Thanksgiving without turkey?" How could that be?