Tag: Retirement

Thriving in the key of midlife

Walt Disney World 2014 tee shirt
Walt Disney World has been our hometown for three decades.

 

Thriving in the key of midlife is challenging if not downright difficult.

So much fear of the unknown creeps in.

Playing it safe suffocates our dreams.

Boomers are thinking about retiring at 55, 60, or 65.

In other words, in a few months, or not for another five or ten years.

There’s a big difference in what’s at risk, and what’s to be gained.

Early retirement sacrifices pension potential and increases health care costs.

Later retirement sacrifices healthy and precious ‘now’ time to do things we may not get to do years from now.

The case for doing either one is strong.

This makes it difficult.

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Mid Life Ecclesiates?

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven;  a time to be born, and a time to die;  a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted”. —  Ecclesiates 3:1-2

And a time for mid life, which happens in it’s own unique way for virtually everyone.  For some, like me, it can easily last a decade.  For others, perhaps it comes and goes over a weekend.

The essence of a mid life crisis is that it’s a time for reflection, and asking:

  • “How did I get to this point in my life”?
  • “Is this where I thought I wanted to be”?
  • “What is the purpose of my life”?
  • “Is there anything I need to change”?
  • “Can I change it, and is it even worth it”?

Life is hard.  There is no manual telling us exactly what to do.  There are so many unpredictable things that change, destroy or inspire our plans.  It’s up to each of us to choose wisely.

Mid Life Workaholics Unite

“Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings”. — Ed Gardner

Workaholics rarely have courage for self-confrontation.  We’re too busy trying to control things and control life.  If we pause long enough to notice the bleeding, we might have to change who we are.

Panic attack, right?  When will we take time to:

  • Rethink
  • Reprioritize
  • Recommit

Probably never.  Am I wrong?

Or maybe when the phone rings, “Honey, it’s for you, it’s your wake up call”.

Ready to Retire in Mid Life?

Not quite yet.  But, I’ve been thinking about it for a couple years.

What is retirement anyway?

What do people do for income?

What do they do for self-esteem?

Are we resigned to slowly decay?

Will we finally be able to do all the things we always wanted to do?

Will we be bored stiff or amazingly active?

Will we be an example or a warning, on how to live life?

The good news?  I have formulated answers to these and, more importantly, have taken action.  Have you?

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An Old Ironic Habit

“It is an old ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way”. — Rollo May

I’m tempted to question myself. Why? Because many I talk with, think I’m crazy to believe that people will want to change if the right recipe comes along.

There is a secret recipe. Everyone knows it. But because we ignore it, it remains a secret.

The secret is, “work hard and find your purpose”.

Most people don’t want to do either. I certainly didn’t. Most of my life was, “Work hard, play hard”. That’s a catch phrase for, “Hurry up, we’re lost”.

Then I regained consciousness and started looking around.  There’s much work to be done.  The harvest is great, the workers are few.

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