What To Change or Not To Change: That is the Question
What have you changed in the last thirty or 40 years to adjust to the passing years? Hooray, I retired, many will say. Then what did you do? Did you start another career, pursue a hobby, or watch the grandchildren? Did you upsize, downsize or move to the sun, beach, or somewhere else? Did you just stay the course?
Did you join the tech age with the latest devices or do you still have none of that? Did you color you hair or let nature take its course? Are you in the center of the social scene or are you hunkered down in you own space? Do you keep current on fashions or do you wear what you like or what is easiest? Are you happy with the decisions you have made or would you like to have made some of them differently?
Was retirement what you expected, or did medical issues or family issues change your plans? Did you plan a retirement or did it kinds just happened as life has a way of doing? A’s we go forward into retirement what insight can you offer?
Recommended1 recommendationPublished in Questions & Trivia
Retirement wasn,t what I really expected Rose, It did however,free up time for me to assist a lady.living across the road,who seemed to be getting into all sorts of problems…minor car accidents,getting hassled due unpaid bills,having avoidable falls, etc,etc.
I didnt realise at the time,that she was in the early stages of dementia,but after some time and in consultation with doctors,it became evident.
Never the less,she was a welcome companion for me,always upbeat and happy,so I didnt mind that our relationship developed into me becoming,for 6 years, her 24/7 carer…recently,her family and doctors insisted that i give up my role,and let her go into assisted care facility about 500 miles away..
Life seems a little empty and lonely now,but that will change..when one door closes,another opens.
I take consolation in believing,that I have fulfilled part of the reason I was put on this planet for,and look forward to the next challenge.
I have no regrets.
You are a good man Capps, you made that ladies life a lot more pleasant by helping her
Cappuccino, Thank you for sharing your story and you are one in a million.
Well done cap
I wrote a column on how I changed . Len
LENS LINES — A Little Religion On A Positive Note by Len Granger
Remembering Years Past.
This month I will be the young age of eighty five years. Over the years I have had many things change in my life. I remember, as a kid living in town, when my mother said we needed a loaf of bread, I would run across town to the store and buy the bread for 11 cents. Today I no longer drive a car and walk slowly with a cane.
I used to jump out bed in the morning ,when mom called that breakfast was ready. Today, when I am ready for breakfast, I slowly crawl out of bed and it seems like it takes forever getting dressed for breakfast.
Since 1972, over 45 years, I have been a newspaper column writer. Most of the years in various papers, the columns were involved with fishing reports. Then 6 years ago, I went on the Religious Page of our local newspaper. The column also goes worldwide with Faithwriters.com to 230 countries, so the message is available for people everywhere to read.
I had a relative that wrote for a newspaper in Iowa and his last column was praise to our Lord and how he lived his life. The column was written on his 100th birthday, in 1899. so our family has memories of many years of changes..
There are many books of the Bible, written by men of God, that never change, There is never a word added or removed from this Word Of God which was years in the writing. However, we as sinners who become saved are changed, as the Bible tells us in this verse.
2 Corinthians 3:18, ” But we with open face beholding us in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord,”
While the Bible message never changes, if we put our hope, trust and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ he will change us and give us eternal life.
Trust this Sunday, we will be in the church of our choice honoring and worshiping our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
God Bless America
America is a land of many faiths.
First of all I would congratulate capps- what an inspiration!
My life seems to have been all change since I officially sold my former Record Company and was at a great loss knowing how to fill my time – I did a couple of years as a budget advisor with the local service, but in the meantime missed my musical contacts so started up a small music Publishing company operated with the help of my wife – this was from home and I finally gave this up a couple of years back and now concentrate on playing my keyboard and of course, let us not forget my Computer and Chatters!
Drummer, You share a common problem of how to fill in the time. You filled yours in well. You are lucky to have a passion for something like music.
I am fortunate to be able to immerse totally into what I am doing, to the point of being oblivious of my surroundings. As far as I’m concerned, those moments are my retirement, my time when I do as I please. Then I’m back to reality for a while.
I get bored very easily and I need some distraction. When I was younger I’d read books at the library. I particularly liked encyclopedias. Today, with the internet, I don’t have to move at all, just write in the search box and away I go, where I stop, nobody knows.
davidr, I do the internet as you do. I love having answers immediately. I am grateful that I retired after the personal computer and the internet was available and when I got my first laptop, I really could keep information at my fingertips.
Roseinbloom, I feel I am so lucky in one aspect of being me, I only came to truly appreciate this once retired. My job was running a craft business and a gallery…..I really enjoyed all that. My husband had to do a lot of professional entertaining, so I had a lot of that. Being a part time caterer was not a job I sought but I made the best of it. This did not leave me all the time I wanted for my own art work. I would be right in the flow of a project and have to stop to do other things and this was frustrating to say the least. So the joy of being retired for me is that….if I’m working and it is going great and I’m not registering time….it does not matter if it is 3am. If I then do not get up till 9.30am who cares? I have no need to feel guilty about it. I’m lucky in that I never seem to run out of ideas, I usually have a few projects on the go and I’m thinking about the next one . My mobility is somewhat compromised but really so long as I have materials I can keep busy within my studio. When I was young I tended to care what people thought and then there were commissions. I seldom take a commission now, I do what I do for me and to heck with what anyone thinks LOL! I would not like you to think I’m totally self indulgent ….I still sit on a few committees, work on a local festival and do readings plus a few workshops. That plus my garden is all I have energy for and I have to pace myself with the garden work. I have good friends that constantly say they are bored….. I am really sorry for them, well I swing between sympathy for them and wonder….surely there is something that they could be interested in? Is it possible to have no interest in anything? I suppose it is the more extrovert types who need outside stimuli who find retirement more problematic. If you are the type of person who wants to be out, at theatre, restaurants. events, travel etc. It might be difficult to fund such a lifestyle or have the mobility or no partner or friends to go with. I also think that some older people are not always willing to make themselves open to new friends and acquaintances. This does take some effort, life has changed and things are different we have to accept that. On the whole I think retirement has many positive aspects and as always one must do more of celebrating what you have and less regret for past life styles.
Rockflower, your last sentence is so wise and so true. I am hearing that people with a creative hobby have an advantage in retirement. I lack that kind of hobby. Some people have lost their hobby because of age and disability. I know one woman who lost her voice and who had been a gifted singer. She still sometimes sang at church but she rarely did because she had lost a lot of her ability to sing. I know one woman who is now 105 and she danced until she was 98. She taught others to dance in her 90’s and arranged a cultural convention when she was 95. She adapted to the body and could because she did folk dancing and she had a different personality than the singer. She just did the best that she could. Some people suffer losses of many kinds in retirement and some people can cope better than others. We all would benefit from what you said, “celebrating what we have and not regretting past lives”.
I had a relative that wrote for the newspapers and poems till over age 100. I have been a newspaper column writer since 1972 and still write a weekly column. Never received any pay as always wrote for free. Just published my 3rd book of newspaper columns and give the books free to readers of my column. It gets very costly publishing books but that is my ministry as column is “Lens Lines–A Little religion On A Positive Note by Len Granger I will be 85 this month and the column goes worldwide to 230 countries.
Well fortunate enough to still be working but I will always need to work as I have no pension to speak of.
BUT I did leave the Mental Health profession after 30 long hard years for a job that was less stressful 🙂
I think if ever I was able to retire I would take up classes- we are never too old to learn and Voluntary work for when I can no longer financially support charities.
🙂
Ohcarol62. I admire your attitude. Learning and growing and giving is a good plan and I will focus more on that. You inspire me with what you say and do and plan.