Don’t procrastinate. Time is no longer on your side. If you are in a new relationship, don’t dilly-dally. See each other as often as possible. Remember, a date each day for six weeks is as much time together as younger people get to experience in a whole year.
If you have been left alone due to a partner’s death, attempt to fill that void. Try going online and visiting dating websites. Have family and friends introduce you to new people. Go to places that cater to singles your age.
Cultivate new experiences. Try new games and activities. Go to that stadium you’ve always dreamed about to see an event of your choosing. Be involved with people, art, sports, music, etc. to your taste. Retirement can be a time of ambition, a time to experience things not possible when work and family matters prevented them.
EXPRESSION
For many, retirement may be the freest time of their lives. Retired people are able to pursue whatever they wish as never before: no parents to answer to and usually no children to physically care for. Now you can seek your heart’s desire, no matter how outlandish or bewildering it may seem to others. Go to Paris and paint. Build model railroads or doll houses. As long as you are able, go fishing twice a week. Go to a dude ranch and ride a horse, go to Egypt and ride a camel or go to India and ride an elephant. Just loll around the house and grill burgers in your backyard. You can do anything you want. There are no bosses, no supervisors and no schedules to meet—only those of your own choosing.
Embrace this freedom. Enjoy it. Relish it. Understand that you own it and count it among your blessings.
AGING
Aging means giving up youthful activities. One by one, a lack of previous abilities necessitates the giving up of something. Physical pursuits have to be curtailed and adjustments have to be made. The best adjustment is to replace an inability with a new activity. If you can no longer play tennis, take up ping pong or another pursuit. If you cannot go for long walks or jog, ride a bicycle. Do something new to replace something lost.
If old friends and family members have moved or passed away, find new ones. Never engage in self-pity; move on. Don’t feel sorry for yourself. You have reached a stage of life others have failed to achieve. You are a survivor. There is too little time left to spend weighed down by guilt.
Accept your retirement as a reward well deserved. Treat it as a new job. Do things to make yourself proud. When younger members of your family promote their achievements, trot out yours. Keep striving within your scope of mind and abilities. Don’t ever quit on yourself.
END GAME
In the United States, in our competitive culture, work has been glorified beyond what is felt in more relaxed societies. In many American circles, retirement has been denigrated to be just a time to wait for death.
Those of us who have enjoyed a much more wonderful experience can readily present a different point of view. Those who choose to embrace retirement should feel that it is a glorious time to do what one wants, as often as one wants, how and when and where one wants, without any stigmatization.
Death should also be embraced. Depending on your religious beliefs, whether you fancy going to heaven, being reincarnated into a higher caste or simply entering a final period of rest and peace, embrace it. Live your retirement days as if each day is your last one and have as much fun and enjoyment as you can.
Never dwell on death. It will eventually come. However, don’t fear it. Embrace it as an ending of all worries and tribulations: a resting in peace and contentment.
EMOTIONAL ASPECTS
Don’t get agitated. Take it easy. You have arrived. Be proud of yourself. Tolerable regimens can lead to new victories. You should feel like a winner. Losing is deflating; accept the challenge of this period of life and treat yourself like a winner.
Every life is filled with mistakes, failures and misfortunes. Do not dwell on the negative. Focus on the good times and positive aspects. Revel in the victories and the successes. Congratulate yourself on overcoming the difficulties. Do this with self-forgiveness and with a strong sense of self-promotion. Retirement is a victory over the pitfalls of labor, over the trials of aging and family and over the maze of life’s changes.
Be victorious in your outlook. Be serene. Be less eager to get angry, less prone to judge and less likely to be offended by criticism. Realize that there are some who criticize indiscriminately to cover up their own insecurities. You have arrived at the pinnacle of living. Enjoy it.
Do not think about what you don’t have or have not accomplished and accept what you do have and appreciate it. No one bats a thousand; even the best baseball hitters get on base less than forty percent of the time. A winning attitude is the best answer to any downturn. Love who you are. You must love yourself before you can love anyone else.
Retirement should not be an end, but the beginning of a new chapter of life. Look forward to retirement with anticipation.
TRANSITIONAL PHASE
No matter how traumatic the circumstance necessitating retirement, be it an illness or an unwanted termination of employment, adequate preparation can reduce the severity of the blow. Preparation is the key.
During your working years, unless you have great job security like owning a growing business in a recession-proof industry, prepare for the worst-case scenario. As technology is replacing manpower with the growing use of robotics and other modalities, job security in the future will not be what it was in the past.
Adequately preparing for a smooth transition is the key to easing into a successful retirement. This can be accomplished by utilizing the formulas for success outlined later in this book.
WORRY
Health issues and financial concerns are among the most common causes for worry, along with familial disruptions. Illnesses can come at any time and are dependent on environmental, genetic or traumatic precipitants and their prevention is usually difficult or nearly impossible to plan for. However, during the retirement period, with a more laid-back attitude and a relaxed approach devoid of rushing, stressing and needing to push boundaries, one can limit one’s exposure to the elements that trigger the usual maladies of advanced age. One is now free enough not to have to brave severely inclement weather and to always be properly dressed to go outdoors. Do not rush. Falling, with resulting injuries, can be life-threatening. Always watch where you are walking, so you will not trip and fall. Whenever it is possible, walk in a timely fashion; do not run.
As a matriarch or patriarch of your family, you may be called upon to arbitrate family disputes. You know your family members, so either use your sagacity to give advice or decline as you see fit. Remember, in your advanced age and need, you may have to depend on these same people in the future, so be wise about it. You do not wish to alienate someone you will need later on. Tread lightly in any judgment. The old adage to say nothing if you can’t say something nice is even more on point as you grow older.
The one thing that you can remove, or at the very least markedly reduce, from your worry list is your financial future. Unlike your health and family matters, you