 By Kevin Brown | Bio
Increasingly I find myself thinking about the word
retirement and whether it has the appeal that it once had for the mature
worker. I remember, as if it were yesterday, my father talking about how he was
looking forward to retirement. After working long hours and raising a family,
there just did not seem much time for anything else. Through much of his
mid-life, my dad's job (conductor for the railroad) had him working away from
home and on the road during the week. Weekends were mostly reserved for rest
before returning to the job the following Monday. Often he would share how he
looked forward to being able to spend time doing the things he really wanted to
do. I just assumed that meant golfing and fishing simply because those are
about the only leisure activities that I remember my dad enjoying.
[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Retirement
Join discussion COMMENTS [1]
Tagged with:
boomers
eldering
freedom_55
growing_older
life
retirement
By Kevin Brown | Bio
In my previous post,
I mentioned two books that I was in the process of reading, Ken
Dychtwald's "With Purpose" and Don Tapscott's "Grown Up Digital".
Ken's book calls us to consider how we will spend our time and apply
our life experience in the later stages of our life. Don's book has us
consider the impact the 'Net Generation' is having on the world at
large. I have only begun to read "Grown up Digital" and already I am
reading it from the perspective of aging. While considering the impact
of the 'Net Generation', I am really listening for "What does this mean
to the generation of baby boomers (my generation) that is about to
retire and how will it directly or indirectly influence our
generation's impact on society going forward?"[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Retirement
Tagged with:
aging
choice
eldering
possibility
retirement
 By Jim Selman | Bio
CBS Sunday Morning,
one of my favorite shows, is a TV magazine filled with interesting and
uplifting stories of American life. The brainchild of Charles Kuralt
(who loved offbeat stories that were shared in his bestselling
travelogue “Off the Road” in the 1970s), the show has been running now
for 30 years. Kuralt’s vision continues to entertain and inspire with
current host Charles Osgood. Recently, there was a story about a
project of the University of North Carolina in Ashland called the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Retirement
Tagged with:
blue_zones
creative_retirement_center
vitality_project
By Jim Selman | Bio
I am getting ready to fulfill one of my
dreams. I have always wanted to go to Africa, but for one reason or
another it was always too expensive, too far away or the opportunity
just didn’t click at the right time. In March, I will be going and I am
both excited and a little anxious since I am not quite sure what to
expect. As I watch myself preparing, I realize that the best part of
getting ready is that I don’t know what to expect—and that is the good
news. Too much of our lives is spent living into expectations, which is
one reason why we often get what we expect and are so surprised when we
don’t.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Retirement
Tagged with:
africa
choice
future
purpose
retirement
richard_leider
transformation
By Jim Selman | Bio
I have had several conversations with friends
in Buenos Aires about how people deal with their financial security in
their older years. To my surprise, the uniform answer is that they
mostly don’t. Then I hear a story which, by my naïve North American
standards is shocking, but whhich reveals something important for all
of us as we contemplate our own future and worry about the
uncertainties in the financial markets. The story goes like this.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Retirement
Tagged with:
bankruptcy
eldering
elders
government
pension
retirement
uncertainty
By Jim Selman | Bio
I’ve been thinking about aging and
observing the human phenomenon for a long time and I know that most of
the chatter in my head isn’t ‘me’—it’s just the tapes of my past and my
ego playing the tune to which my culture expects me to dance. For
example, I believe and know from experience that the key to health and wellbeing is “participation”—staying
engaged in whatever games I choose to play. Yet, that little voice in
my head insists that I should rest more, take it easy, slow down and
just enjoy life. I can observe myself being seduced by the reasonable
and conventional wisdom that as I get older I should participate less. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Retirement
Tagged with:
energy
health
participation
retirement
time
wellbeing
By Jim Selman | Bio
I was talking to my neighbor today about
the book that Shae and I are working on. It is about retirement and
we’re engaged in the question of ‘when’ does retirement occur. Is it
merely an ‘event’ that happens at the end of our last job? My thinking
is that it is whatever is left of our lives when our primary concern in
life is no longer about earning a living. In this context, a trust fund
baby could be born retired just as a person who is ‘retired’ could
still have an occupation. Even a homeless person (if homelessness as a
choice) might be seen to be ‘retired’—as Roger Miller’s “King of the
Road” would suggest.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Retirement
Tagged with:
concern
decline
prime
purpose
retirement
time
By Jim Selman | Bio
One of the biggest
questions most of us have is “Why do we do what we do?”, particularly
when what we do isn’t what we want to do or think we should be doing.
My answer is that, for most of us, most of the time we’re not actually
choosing what we do. We are living our life according to our historical
patterns within some narrowly proscribed personal and cultural ‘story’
about what is and is not possible and what our options are in any given
situation. In effect, we live our lives in a ‘circumstantial drift’
where the future is determined by our past.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Retirement
Tagged with:
choice
circumstantial_drift
future
past
retirement
time
 By Jim Selman | Bio
Of
all the complaints and fears we hear that are associated with aging,
the number one is boredom. After a lifetime of activity and
accomplishment, it is incredible how many of us move into “elderland”
only to discover that we’re unsatisfied and bored. How can this be?
Granted that we might not be as spry as we once were and some of our
libidos are lackluster, but goodness gracious, do we really expect our
circumstances to make us happy or enthusiastic or interested in other
people and the possibilities of each and every day? [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Retirement
Tagged with:
aging
boredom
circumstances
game
generation
life
play
 By Rick Fullerton | Bio
Last
week I began a new job. In itself, this is not remarkable; people
change jobs as a regular occurrence, whether as a result of individual
initiative or organizational circumstance. For me, this latest career
move serves as a stimulus to reflect on my commitments and priorities
and how these evolve over time.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Retirement
Tagged with:
career
challenge
commitment
employment
job
learning
service
|
RSS Feeds
