Retirement Talk for Boomers, Seniors, and Retirees

"One thing I love about retirement is the freedom to take risks and act "irresponsibly" - the kids are all grown - no-one is actually dependent on me anymore so I feel free to play - climb cliffs - swim in shark infested waters or whatever - maybe take up hang gliding?"

I'm getting grumpy. I am getting pretty possessive of what has my attention. Retirement offers us time to pursue whatever we wish but sometimes our space and time gets invaded. Focusing on what we can control takes some effort.

Energy is one of those things that always seems in short supply. Thus it always has a high value. We feel this at the end of each day when we finally succumb to personal loss and lay our head on a pillow. It seems like there ought to be a way to beat the system; a way to get around this loss and keep right on moving. I wish.

Our lives are filled with people coming and going. We meet them; have an interaction and then never see them again. We move one direction and they move another. This is likely to be the fate of many of our relationships. What to do?

You don't have to go far to feel like an explorer. There is more novelty and more surprises waiting just around the corner. It is this daily discovery that keeps me smiling.

When I launched this project I was discouraged with information available on retirement that did not have to do with investments and finances. It appeared that the only concern in retirement was money. My own experience of being retired told me that there was much more to retired life than money.

It is important that a health directive be clear and be known to those who might be involved in your manner of death. It makes me think that I need to be a bit more active along this line.

It is important to share information from one generation to the other. Just today the New York Times had an article about the importance of sharing family stories from one generation to the next. It claimed that this history gives stability and a sense of identity to children.

"Two roads diverged in the yellow wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." R. Frost

It is no fun being stuck. Retirement can have this effect on us. We can feel strapped to our past or our present. We can't seem to conceive of a reason to do anything.

IIt was Family Day in Canada - a national holiday. It was the first one ever. Seems like a worthwhile title for a holiday.

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.

Retirement gives us time to think about the past. Mistakes, bad decisions, regrets and empty dreams come to us - many times in the depths of night. But to mull over the past and dig up old hurts to me or committed by myself doesn't appeal to me.

One worn out piece of advice that seems to hold true all of our life is that we need to "pick our battles". Retirement has its limits. We are older. Our bodies do not move like they once did.

We love a road trip in the family car. We feel free - and like we are truly on vacation. We are now making our plans. We are enjoying the stage of anticipation according to the cult of happiness.

Finding meaning in our lives was the topic of the previous podcast. I wanted to continue that train of thought. 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.

Finding meaning in life seems to be a never ending quest - sort of like pursuing more air to breath. 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.Many of us are still pursuing that topic.

Musicians fall in love with their instruments. Artists fall in love with their creations. Kids fall down and skin their knees. Football players fall down and break their necks. We need to be a bit more careful about falling as we grow older.

Though the change is slow it does happen. Spinoza would love it. It is that ever changing motion in a positive direction that brings happiness according to him. He convinced me.

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.