Retirement Talk for Boomers, Seniors, and Retirees

For us it was: a temperate climate not hot and not cold. We wanted a university in the town and we wanted it on the west coast, close to mountains and salt water, close to a big city (Seattle and Vancouver in this case), not so small that we would know everyone and not so big that we couldn’t feel like part of the community.

Retirement is like that. Life is like that. It isn’t that you grow Dahlias, write the great American novel, or build a better boat. The questions to answer are: Does it work for you? Are you committed? Do you understand what you're doing with your life and why?

Giving meaning to life is important for all of us. We need to feel that we have something for which life is worth living. If ancient religion doesn’t provide it then something else must.

One thing about retirement: it gives us time to slow down and try different ways of living than those that have dominated our life through custom, convenience and habit. "Thanksgiving without turkey?" How could that be?

"The worst thing you can do is lie about something. Don’t deny something that is true. If people can’t trust you to tell the truth then we lose all trust. That would be the very worst thing. Do you understand."

A friend gave me a bottle of wine maybe 50 years ago. It is really good wine he said. And then added, "If you open it when you have a good friend over it will be all the better". How true.

In the younger phase we are always being asked what we are going to do in life. The question usually refers to a career plan. In the last half or so of life we are usually asked what we are going to do in retirement. Many of us never prepare. We just launched into it.

It always amazes me that we can do all of our little errands and at the same time get terrific exercise. The papers and magazines are filled with articles that report about the effect of exercise on this or that disease. It seems like exercise is the only thing that is always recommended. I don’t think you can do too much.

We like to trust people. That is a good thing. However, sometimes we can be taken advantage of if we are not careful. As we grow older this can become a very serious problem.

I know some people who say they don’t know what they would do if they were retired. My experience tells me that you will, or can be, very busy. Busy, but busy doing exactly what you want to.