Create New Adventures in Retirement
It happened again yesterday. Someone told me that retirement isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. I am still surprised at how much this bothers me because this time of life has exceeded all of my expectations. Life is what you make it, and you get what you focus on. We have health issues like everyone else, and our medical appointments take up too much space on the calendar but that’s not what we choose to focus on. We believe that every day provides an opportunity to create new adventures in retirement. If you find one day merging into the next, put a little variety into your life. Don’t go to the same restaurant every Friday and try a new recipe once in a while. Look for ways to spice up your life a little bit and you’ll be surprised at what a difference it can make. My wife and I try to exercise on a regular basis so yesterday we took our “treadmill session” on the road and journey up the mountain to Windam with its wonderful colors and spectacular views. They have a walking trail that will give you a mile-and-a-half workout and it’s just a wonderful place to get in a good walk outside if the weather cooperates and, yesterday, the weather was spectacular. We spent our dinner talking about how much fun it was.
Create new adventures in retirement by just taking little detours throughout Life's journey.
It doesn’t take much to make your life more exciting. We are fortunate enough to be able to get away each winter and, because we have time share, we’re not locked into the same location each year although we have our favorites. Indeed, some of our favorite places became that way because we were open to trying new things. Myrtle Beach was always listed as a favorite by other travelers, but we had never been there. One year a unit in North Myrtle Beach opened up and we have been there a few times since and, as my wife will tell you, we discovered how charming Palm Springs can be by total accident. It’s amazing what can happen when you’re willing to try something new. You can create new adventures in retirement with a change in your mindset and a willingness to explore. Retirement is too good a time to not focus on the positive and, if you’ve gotten to this point in your life, you have a lot to be grateful for and a lot to be positive about.
I fully admit that I was never too thrilled with the jobs that I had during my life. They paid me well and provided excellent benefits, but I never grew up wanting to be a project manager, systems designer or the director of a supply chain, all positions that I had at various times. Sometimes the long hours and business travel really got to me and I fantasized about what I would do when I could finally retire. Even though I hated to travel on my own and see nothing but offices, warehouses and meeting rooms, I dreamed of the day when I could sail the Mediterranean with my wife and that’s exactly what happened. We have seen more of this world than we ever thought possible when we were a couple of kids from Long Island who decided to spend their lives together. It was the best decision I ever made, and we had absolutely no money between us. We prided ourselves on making dinner for a dollar (it was over fifty years ago!) and our vacations were to upstate New York where we ended up retiring to. We learned to create our own adventure, so we were well prepared to create new adventures in retirement and have been blessed with nearly ten years of enjoying each other’s company to the fullest.
Take the time to recall all the things you wanted to do but never had the time to do because work got in the way. Whether it was golf, pickleball or learning how to cook, I’m sure there were things that you wanted to do but they never quite got done. Spend a little time in this self-discovery process and you might be surprised at what comes to the surface when you think about everything you’ve lived through. For me, reading was always put on hold, and I have been desperately trying to make up for lost time in retirement. I have so much appreciation for the writer’s craft that, if I ever get the time, I might even try a book or two myself. That’s what retirement is for. You weren’t your job or what you did for a living. There’s an inner person that is dying to try new things. You should get started right now and make every day count. The world we live in is amazing and there is so much to learn. Studying the civilizations of the ancient world will make you realize we may not be so smart after all. Reading the best-selling author of all time, William Shakespeare, may make you realize the impact that one person can have in the world. Life is an adventure and deserves to be lived that way. Create new adventures in retirement starting right now and you may see your whole life get a little more exciting. It’s time to Enjoy Retired Life!
Thanks for visiting. If you like what you see here, please tell your friends. If you haven’t done so already, be sure you take The Self Discovery Challenge for Retirement! It’s designed to help you make the most of this wonderful time of your life. You’re never too old to discover something new about yourself!
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