Retirement Is A Blank Check

Can you imagine if some billionaire walked up to you and gave you a blank check with your name on it and told you to fill in the amount and then cash it?  That would be pretty awesome.  But, in many ways, retirement is a blank check for the way you’ll spend the rest of your life and that is an absolute fact.  Unfortunately, most people don’t see it that way.  Your retirement years can be the most wonderful time of your life.  I feel sad for those who don’t think so.

I’ve met many people who think that retirement is like withdrawing from the action.  They equate it to an athlete who comes to the end of their career and will no longer be in the spotlight thrilling their fans.  Their best days are behind them and they’re no longer of any use.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The most rewarding experiences are when you are giving to others and the wisdom you have gained over the years can be a tremendous gift you give to others.  Those who are fortunate enough to be grandparents know the joy that time with their children’s children can give them.  It is the Circle of Life unfolding in front of your eyes.  It is a true wonder when you take the time to watch everything evolve.  Retirement gives you the time to enjoy that process and appreciate all that you’ve been given in your life.  But it’s also a time to realize that you can make your golden years into anything you want them to be.  Retirement is a blank check waiting to be cashed for learning, traveling and exploring all the things you dreamed about over the years.  If your work deprived you of time with your children, grandchildren are a great opportunity to make up for it.

Retirement is a blank check that you can spend however you want.

Retirement is a blank check for learning new things and starting new hobbies.  The happiest people I know are the ones who have revisited a desire from their youth.  From piano lessons to singing lessons, from woodworking to gardening and from traveling to painting, I know at least one person who has embarked on those journeys and is having the time of their life.  And there’s countless others who have found out how wonderful traveling can be.  If you’ve explored this website at all you know I am fascinated by history and those who helped shape the events of their day.  We travel to warmer places for the winter and make it a point to take different routes whenever possible.  The opportunities to explore are nearly endless and when you have the time that retirement gives you, you can extend your winter excursions by taking a little extra time to visit some historical sites.  My wife is the greatest travel partner in the world as long as she doesn’t have to take a test and is able to enjoy a nice meal during our exploration.  When you merge your historical research with some dining experiences, you can create some very memorable days.  Staunton, Virginia and Macon, Georgia have become favorite stops as well Nashville, New Orleans and Charleston.  We look forward to our journey through these places every year because of the history and the wonderful food they have to offer.

You can make your retirement anything you want it to be.  Become a photographer, an artist, a writer or just a student and you’ll fill your days with complete enjoyment.  Retirement is a blank check for rewarding experiences.  I believe everyone has at least one passion or interest that they never get tired of and many people, like me, have six or seven or even more.  I go from one thing to another and have a great time doing it.  The best thing about retirement is that I have no one telling me what to do or when to do it.  One of the things that I do every day is to see what happened on this day in history.  Who was born, who died and what happened on this day.  This will usually trigger a couple of hours of research because questions always occur to me.  It’s amazing how much I don’t know, and I love filling in those gaps.  Another topic for daily review is the recipe section of the New York Times and that usually leads to where we will eat that day or what we will try to make in our kitchen.  In retirement, cooking can become a hobby and a passion.  It has led to more than one cooking class and we enjoyed every one of them.

Our travel plans also keep us busy and those trips don’t have to be huge undertakings.  We moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York when we retired so we have a lot of new places to see.  Our first two years or retirement were occupied with designing and building our retirement home on a piece of property in a small community near the Hudson River.  It was one of the most satisfying things we have ever done.  Retirement is a blank check for filling your life with new experiences and creating new dreams.  No dream is too small to be important.  Writing a short story or publishing a book or just learning how to paint a landscape can give you more joy and satisfaction than you ever thought possible.  But you have to take the first step.  Go on, get started.  Write that book or plan that trip because it’s time to Enjoy Retired Life!

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