Baby-boomer alert: My two-and-a-half year retirement report
July 05, 2007
I just rewrote my biography for the ABOUT section of this blog.
I spent too much time talking about the past and not enough about the present or the future.
I've been retired as a state of Michigan employee for two-and-a-half years and I've had time to take stock of what I've done in the past and what I've left undone.
My 1946 birthdate puts me in the first class of baby-boomers who are lapping on the edges of being senior citizens as they hit their 60th birthday. I know that I've moved into the next chapter in the book of my life journey.
My joints feel different, I've taken an avid interest in flossing, I look for senior discounts and I've become re-acquainted with the word N-A-P.
During the past 30 months I've had a chance to look back at my life in as much detail as I could tolerate. I had been involved with maintaining my church's extensive website. I also tried consulting and struggled at showing clients how to do something versus doing it myself.
I've stayed in touch with our two grown children, a son and a daughter. Their lives as independent adults are humming and taking form. With my daughter, I can talk about life and politics and with my son, it's the web as a tool to bring the world's people closer together.
As I look ahead and as I look at transitioning from retirement into refirement, I know it's time to move ahead. I've made mistakes and I've recovered. I've had successes and been really blessed. I know that I have a purpose that's bigger than sitting on the deck we hope to build in the backyard this summer.
My personal agenda in the coming days will include:
- More time spent with God. I've struggled with this. I always thought that you had to have a middle-man to have this. The middle-person, I thought, was the church. For me, it had become an obstacle to accomplishing that. Praying more is on my agenda. In the past, I've been a "Come Lord Jesus be our guest" kind of guy. God should hear from me in my own words.
- More emphasis on my health. I've taken this for granted. Most of my life I've been up and down with my weight. It's time for this to change. There's part of me that says this will be too hard. Another part says, it could be fun. I know I have a hypertension challenge. I take a med for it. Perhaps, I can work my way out of that. Then there's glaucoma. That's being managed.
- More time spent serving others. Because of our aging beagle, Snoopy, I've had a chance to get to know my neighbors on our daily walks. I need to be more sensitive to how I can serve them.
- More time spent on being a blog coach and consultant. I've always had an interest in and a passion for communication. The web has changed the rules of the game dramatically. I'd love to play more of a role helping people use this new tool.
I'm glad I'm sixty. This could be an exciting time. I know I have to be really intentional about what I'm doing.
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