The Good Life
- Posted by e2 on 08.20.09
- Tags Modern Family, The Evolving Family
Retirement, in the minds of many, is synonymous with loafing. This is the first idea that has to be adjusted when you begin to think about retirement. Don’t plan on heading for the rocking chair on the front porch the morning after the retirement banquet.
Loafing is of two varities - mental and physical. Mentally, retirement will mean that suddenly you won’t be faced with the daily problems that you had to cope with in the past. Unchallenged, the mind can gather dust in a hurry and true unhappiness is not far behind.
Physical loafing means that the body’s metabolism, geared to a busy pace, is confronted with a considerably changed pattern. The many little clock mechanism in the body find themselves out of phase. The clocks slow down, but they don’t stop. While sick people need rest to recover, unlimited rest for a healthy person will lead to rapid physical deterioration. Pace down your activities but don’t stop living when you stop working.
Recreational and intellectual security are important in retirement years. Once you have given up your job, you’ll have some 5,000 leisure hours a year to fill. What you decide to do with these leisure hours will spell the difference between a new fulfilling life and a tedious sinking into old age. Note: We said leisure, not vacation.
"Vacation" is that state of having nothing to do, i.e., vacant of occupation or purpose. Don’t confuse this with "leisure", which stems from a word meaning "to be permitted." To have leisure is to be permitted to do something, to be freed from other demands so that you may do something that you otherwise could not do. Begin early to cultivate outside interests that will carry over into retirement. Take up the hobby that you never had time for. Some people return to school. Many institutions offer the chance for continued study - and it doesn’t necessarily have to be study for a degree. Remember: "To learn what is new is to remain ever young."
