Tag Archives: retirement

Travels

I am officially on holiday. Darlene and I are in Granada seeing what is perhaps one of the two or three top tourist destinations in Europe—The Alhambra. Aside from this site being a unique and spectacular complex of ancient fortifications and Arabic palaces, it also tells the story of how temporal our lives and our civilizations really are. This one had a pretty good run (about 800 years) before it was conquered in 1492, the same year Columbus set foot in the ‘New World’.

Our visit has

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What Do I Want?

It seems to me that we spend an inordinate amount of time thinking
about what we want in our lives. Last week I was working with a group
of people—mostly in their forties—and they shared that this was the
prevailing question in their lives. It got me thinking that this is the
question for all ages. At 65 I still ask it, although with less of a
need for an answer than at other times in my life.

What do I want? Simple enough question, but one that we seemingly don’t
answer or we wouldn’t

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Madrid

I’m on vacation in Madrid. I was here once before for a short visit earlier this year to lead a workshop for a couple of friends I knew in Buenos Aires who have opened a coaching school here. This time I am able to just relax and take some time to get to know the country a bit better. It always amazes me how the first few days of every holiday are spent ‘shifting gears’ and adjusting to another context and pace than we have in our ‘normal’ work life. It dawned on me yesterday that this

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The Quest for Joyful, Vibrant Aging

By Don Arnoudse
Bio

I’ve been feeling the pain of transitions lately. Or as my wife observed, “You seem troubled”. Perhaps not a big deal—but for someone who lives life as a perennial optimist, a bit unusual. So what’s going on?

One
interpretation I have is that I’m just gearing up for what’s next. It’s
a familiar indicator for me to feel restless, a bit irritable, even
fearful as I come to (or beyond) the natural end of a particular phase
and pause in that “white space” between saying “Goodbye” to one chapter
and “Hello” to something new. I never enjoy it, but it is familiar.

As
I get ready to enter my 60s in six months or so, I’ve been thinking
about how I want to age.

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Try to Remember

I am in the process of reorganizing my photographs. One of the most enjoyable fruits of the technological tree in my opinion has been the digital camera and all the cool software that has been developed for playing with our pics. I have been into the shooting of digital pictures for four and have even bought one of the fancy Nikon SLR models. Unfortunately, it is too complicated and not at all intuitive, so until I have time to take some lessons, it patiently waits for me to play with it. In the

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Loss

One of the things we need to learn if we haven’t learned it by the time we reach retirement and our ‘golden years’ is how to deal with loss. Aside from the obvious loss of friends and family though death and incapacitating illness, we have a host of other things we can ‘lose’, such as systems of support, material possessions, our physical abilities and perhaps most importantly—possibility. Not everyone experiences loss and certainly not in the same way. But loss, whether real or perceived,

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Affirming the Future

After retiring from her career in real estate, Dr. Anne Marie Evers
became an international motivational speaker, author and workshop
facilitator. Known as “The Affirmations Doctor”, this ordained minister
and counselor has applied her training in child psychology and personal
development to several children’s Affirmation programs, including the
popular anti-violence Affirm and Learn Enhancement Program, the Kids’ Affirmation Program (KAP) and The Kids Affirmation Club.

Dr.
Evers

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Darlene’s Birthday

As you may know, I am traveling and working in South America and, as luck or bad planning would have it, I am away on my mate’s 60th birthday. So rather than just sending flowers or waiting until I get home, I want to send this special birthday greeting and let you all know what a special lady Darlene is.

As you can see from this recent picture, Darlene is a beautiful and vibrant woman. What you might not know is that she is one of the most emotionally intelligent, serene and self-confident

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It’s a Great Life!

During the five months I’ve been blogging, I’ve spoken with more than a hundred people in their 50s and older about their experience and views on aging. The resounding consensus is that life is great and getting better all the time. It seems to me this is indicative of a real transformation underway: instead of growing older being a story of ‘decline’, a couple of generations are starting to declare that the 2nd half of life might be the best half.

Here are a few of the common themes from

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What Do Boomers Want?

I had lunch yesterday with a great friend of mine who is about my age and one of the ‘most alive’, talented and eclectic people I know. She is interested in everything and everyone and is as passionate about life as one can be. As a cancer survivor, she has been through a lot in terms of health challenges, yet is clear that she is not her body. She has never been more enthusiastic about her future and is an inspiration to all that know her.

We were talking about this blog site and my vision

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