 Copyright 2016 M. Sedestrom Guthrie. @HereAndNow.Art on Instagram | Thirty inches! Snowzilla! Records broken. Never again. We just have to get out of here. But is this the best time to make that big decision to move south? (Full disclosure, I am writing this in the kitchen of the townhouse in Florida I rented for the month of January. So yeah, I missed the big one. Again. Oh darn.) In AARP Roadmap for the Rest of your Life, I discuss the level of activity scale, a measure of how active you are and/or wish to be. |
A healthy, active person who jogs or works out often, works long hours, and is basically a Type A, would score very high on the scale. I then pose the question of whether a person like that would be content to retire to a small, isolated community. I feature my friends John and Andrea who did just that, selling their business where they worked seven days a week. They moved to a small beach community and they loved it at first. After all, they had vacationed there many times. But after building their home, then getting involved in local issues, they needed more. And they missed the day-to-day excitement and aggravations. They missed going out in the evenings, to dinner, to shows, to cultural events. Eventually they realized what they had to do, and it wasn’t move back, it was to open a restaurant. They had never owned a restaurant, so that gave them even more challenges and battles to conquer. They’re happy as clams now and, ironically, starting to slow down. But this time, it’s not a radical all or nothing change. They’re relishing more time with their grandkids. They’re delegating more of the work to run the restaurant. And they spend more time going on trips away, helping them get their Urbanville kicks.
They were lucky and they were persistent. They managed to build a new life for themselves even though their first decision wasn’t the smartest for them at the time. Not everyone has the resources to make the changes they did. But we all have the resources to look at ourselves and know who we are. The tiger doesn’t change his stripes, the saying goes. You’re not likely to change your lifestyle either, unless some outside force causes it (because of an illness or injury, for example).
Now, when the cleanup is starting, is a good time to think about what you’d like your life to be. Now is a good time to reflect upon who you are, what you like to do, where you’d like to be. It’s no secret who you are or what you like to do. Spend a few moments observing yourself. It’ll become very clear to you by what you do in your spare time and what makes you smile. That’s what you like to do. That’s who you are. Don’t judge it, just accept it. It doesn’t have to be who you are forever. It’s now. And you get to decide when you want to change that.
Don’t let a big storm determine who you are. But let it help you reflect on your life.
They were lucky and they were persistent. They managed to build a new life for themselves even though their first decision wasn’t the smartest for them at the time. Not everyone has the resources to make the changes they did. But we all have the resources to look at ourselves and know who we are. The tiger doesn’t change his stripes, the saying goes. You’re not likely to change your lifestyle either, unless some outside force causes it (because of an illness or injury, for example).
Now, when the cleanup is starting, is a good time to think about what you’d like your life to be. Now is a good time to reflect upon who you are, what you like to do, where you’d like to be. It’s no secret who you are or what you like to do. Spend a few moments observing yourself. It’ll become very clear to you by what you do in your spare time and what makes you smile. That’s what you like to do. That’s who you are. Don’t judge it, just accept it. It doesn’t have to be who you are forever. It’s now. And you get to decide when you want to change that.
Don’t let a big storm determine who you are. But let it help you reflect on your life.
RSS Feed
