Is the pursuit of happiness a good goal? Well-known Australian social researcher Hugh Mackay says, No! Happiness is a somewhat shallow goal and mostly unworkable. Wholeness is the thing to aim for.
One of the issues some retirees face is a lack of social contact when they retire. That’s why it’s good to get socially involved before retirement so you have connections in place.
It used to be that retirement was a fairly selfish time of life. Retirees had worked all those years and retirement was time for rest and relaxation. No more! The current crop of retirees, Baby Boomers, are too restless for that. They want to keep living life to the full.
Loneliness is a growing problem—an epidemic, say some. And it can hit retirees if they aren’t careful. In the workplace, we’re usually forced to mix with people as part of the job. In retirement, you choose to mix or not.
As you prepare for your retirement, don’t forget to maintain and develop friendships, and be an active part of your community. A number of findings warn that isolation and loneliness can lead to serious health problems—physical, mental and emotional.
One of the best ways of preparing for retirement is to build friendships and then hang on to your friends. In this podcast, we discuss the importance of staying connected in retirement.
Back in 2002, psychologist Martin Seligman wrote about authentic happiness (the title of his book. A couple of years ago he wrote saying happiness was not enough. The best life is one that flourishes. This podcast discusses what he says makes a flourishing life, but then expands it further.
Work plays a huge role in our daily life, and the loss of the ‘substance and challenge of work’; the relationship with colleagues; the place to go to work; and the daily routines can ‘leave a gaping hole, causing people to wonder, with so much new-found spare time, whether they matter anymore’.
Graham Long is a hero. He’s the CEO and pastor of the iconic Wayside Chapel in Sydney’s Kings Cross. It’s a place where he sees life, as he expresses it, ‘from the gutter up, rather than from a university or Parliament House down’.
People need people. That’s true in all types of situations. And the evidence is that when it comes to brain health, we do need people—social connections.