The Ed Taylor Show

Of course, when our kids were young we were in our 20’s & early 30’s… and now we’re in our mid 60’s… sure we’re the same people as we’ve always but now, and I don’t know about you, but I know Lori & I see some things a bit differently now then we did 30 some years ago… Are we wise elders? 

Ahhh… maybe… elder for sure, but I think I look more like a wise elder than I feel like one… but the years have definitely smoothed out some rough edges in both my actions and my thoughts… and with the passing of the years, I do feel like I’m standing a fairly tall stack of experiences and that gives me a different and I think more holistic perspective.

My son has suffered from schizophrenia & bipolar disorder since his teens, he’s now 41.

We’ve lived through the heart-wrenching agony of his bad decisions, guns, arrests & homelessness.

We have spent sleepless nights wondering… worrying. For years every time we watched the evening news we’ve cringed while waiting for the description of suspected shooters, robbers, and other criminals.

We never know ‘what could have been’, the tragedies averted, the avoidance of devastation that could have been wreaked… what we do know, WHAT I DO KNOW is, treatment for mental health issues is difficult… and it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!  Not only is it necessary from a compassionate moral perspective it is necessary from a public safety perspective.

There have been times, thankfully brief periods of time when I’ve found distractions necessary. They served as mental bandages, they stopped the emotional bleeding while protecting me from outside elements… there are also times, times when things are going OK, or even going well when I find myself consumed by a mind occupying distractions.

In this session, I’ll share an alternative to surrendering our healthy state to mind-numbing distractions… an alternative that actually makes us feel better and, according to medical science, has some significant health benefits… daydreaming.

Imagine with me for a minute. You’re a successful entrepreneur. Business is brisk. You have dozens of employees. For years life is good.

Then things begin to change slowly at first… and then more quickly… within a few years, you lose it all… you’re in your late 50’s. Broke and emotionally depleted… What do you do?

Ironically, like a Phoenix, Jessica emerged from the flames & totally reinvented herself… she remembered a past interest, she considered her natural talents, her strengths and as her clarity increased she took steps, bold steps into the unknown… and she systematically rebuilt herself… not into what she had been, but into what she now desired to be… 

Listen as Jessica shares her story…  and if you pay close attention you will learn the exact process she uses to “Maintain the excitement & thrill so it’s Greater than her fear”.

Many people seem to have a love-hate relationship with Facebook and other social media platforms… in this episode, I’ll share some of the things I’ve done to maximize the love and minimize the hate.

Getting out of our “Comfort Zone” can help make our retirement years even better than we imagined.

In previous episodes, we’ve talked about saying YES to things we would ordinarily say no to… when we do that there can be a secondary challenge… “being there”, that is, ‘getting out of our head’ and being present.

Here’s a ‘trick’ that works for me.

Last week a Facebook friend posted… “47 years ago today we graduated high school”… another friend, Gary, commented, “This is the year of going on Medicare class! “Sweet that so many of us have made it to this point! High-class problem!

Being the confirmed lifelong “mis-matcher” that I am when I read that my thoughts immediately went to those who didn’t make it…

Making the invisible visible is a skill… a unique skill… and being Retirement age is a unique time… and one way we can make RETIREMENT: Even Better Than We Imagine… is to say yes more often, so, even while our vision may not be as good as it once was… we can make visible things that up until now we could have never even imagined.

The ‘Grey Ceiling’ gave me the nudge I needed to get out of my “Comfort Zone” and open doors that I never, ever, would have imagined.

By the way, the Grey Ceiling is akin to the glass ceiling that stifles advancement for women & minorities… it has to do with being perceived as being too old for the job… In my late 50’s people presumed I was too old to be up to date on Internet marketing… people expected their Internet marketing speaker to be in their mid or late 20’s. I was more than twice that.

I was bumping my grey, balding, head against a ubiquitous perception… it was time for a change.

This part of the acting business has a devastating effect on a lot of actors. The feeling of being rejected eats them up. They second guess the choices they’ve made… many get depressed as the rejections mount. I get it, but…