Retiree Rebels: Ditch the Rocking Chair!

When was the last time you were so engrossed in learning something, the time flew by? The luxury of allowing yourself not to scan a piece of information, but truly fit the pieces of learning together in your head, just for you.

Sounds like something out of a fairy tale, no it’s a freedom - the freedom in retirement to learn.

In this episode's "Ask Mary Helen" she answers a question she hears a lot from retirees. What do I do with my time? Time is the one non-renewable resource in our retirement and so the variety of activities are endless and daunting as well.

Her answer: Develop a personal learning project. Listen in on her suggestions.

If the time has come for you to downsize, forget the rules about tossing out unused dishes or out-of-style furniture.You can’t take it with you, and your kids probably don’t want most of it, so downsize. Carol Larson says the only rule you need in culling your stuff is, “love it or leave it.”

Find yourself becoming more impatient as you get older? Less interested in doing battle with unreasonable people? You’re not the only one.

Carol Larson takes a sword to the myth that says we gain patience as we get older.

Dr. Jerry Apps discusses the importance of creativity throughout one's life. He uses the motto taken from Harry Chapin's song, All My Life's a Circle to spur all adults to find the passions to keep your life alive.

That which we were introduced to when we were young, will return in our lives after full time work. Be of some worth. As you provide for others, you're doing for yourself. Tell your story!

Farmer, educator, writer, do what you love. Listen to Jerry Apps, storyteller, and lover of every life's passion.

The Chapin Foundation was contacted and granted permission for the use of the song, All My Life's A Circle, for this podcast.

Is Ageism Like Sexism? It feels the same. Being told you can't do certain things, not because of your individual abilities, but because you belong to a group society thinks is less capable.In this Kitchen Table Talk, Mary Helen Conroy and Carol Larson explore the similarities between the sexism they experienced in the 1960s & 1970s, to what is happening to seniors today. And they make a plea for your help in coming up with language to help articulate the new social struggle for age equity and fair treatment

Research tells us that 1 in 5 adults over the age of 50 are lonely. Research also tells us that being able to make our 'work buddies' into 'play buddies' allows us to live healthier and happier lives.

But, how do we make friends as an older adult. Mary Helen Conroy discusses the seven tips on making friends. As Bette Midler said, 'ya gotta have friends'.

In this week's episode, Divorcing Your Job, Carol Larson uses the metaphor of divorce in viewing the changes inherent in retirement.Listen as she discusses the similarities of these two major changes on a person's life, from property settlements, alimony and how both change how you define yourself. Also, she cautions how both situations can cause a person to feel "untethered," often taking years to reinvent yourself.

There is really a difference between a change and a transition. Carol Larson and Mary Helen Conroy talk about how we deal with the turbulent times retirement brings. How we can adapt to this transitional time in our nearly and newly retired times is critical to making a change that creates a new you. Change things up...new information creates new lives.

Retirement, a time of joy and relaxation. True! A time of loneliness and depression. True. The statistics on loneliness and retirement are dismal. However, Mary Helen Conroy, life coach and change strategist discusses a variety of ways that retirees can rebel against loneliness and engage with new ideas and people.