We can create our own story in retirement. It’s good to learn from others and their experience. It’s worth reading up on options. And it’s worth checking and understanding trends. But we need to live out our own story.
There’s a trend among the middle-aged to focus on work and income at the expense of their personal wellbeing. It’s often done with the hope that they can work on wellbeing later—in retirement, perhaps.
‘Live your life while you’ve got it.’ It’s a warning for any who wait for retirement when they hope they can pull their life together. But there are no guarantees that it will come to be. Tomorrow may bring trauma.
One good question for those heading toward retirement is: Is it possible to delay ageing? Psychologist Julian Melgosa, in Enjoy Life, suggests there is and he lists six ways that he believes will help in this quest.
The message of ‘clean eating’ seems to be everywhere these days, with healthy eating defined as choosing ‘unprocessed’, ‘natural’ and even ‘organic’ foods. But will shopping the organic aisle of your supermarket or health food shop really make a difference to your health?
Creating a product from something you’re passionate about is what many entrepreneurs do. Whether it’s making or baking items, writing or inventing something, there’s a lot we can do with our hobbies in retirement or for a second career.
In her book The Artist’s Way for Retirement, Julia Cameron lists what she calls the common problems facing the newly retired. Her list is broad-ranging. It includes: ‘too much time, lack of structure, a sense that our physical surroundings suddenly appear outdated, excitement about the future coupled with a palpable fear of the unknown.’
You can probably guess that I have a lot of information about retirement flowing into my inbox. On purpose. I’m keen to find out what the latest thinking is. Over the past week, two stories have come in on the theme of happiness. The first tells me how to be a happy Boomer, and the second how to have a happy retirement.
Many of us have heard stories of ‘little old ladies’ who call cruise ships their home. Or read the joke that’s sent (and resent) about the ‘benefits’ of retirement living on a cruise ship. However, where and how we live in retirement isn’t a frivolous matter, and most people can only dream of cruising full time.
At 73 years of age, Ingrid Pich brings a lively presence into a room—any room. We meet in a kitchen/lounge in the complex where she’s just finished conducting an exercise class. She tells me later she’s a ‘high-energy person’. That’s obvious from the start.