Find Your Retirement Passion
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By Cathy Severson, MS
As the baby boomer generation near retirement age, the planning emphasis is shifting from not only, “Will I have enough money?”, but is beginning to include, “What am I going to do with my time?” Realizing that a seniors life on the golf course may not be enough activity to last for ten or even twenty years, the new crop of aging adults is looking for experiences and retirement activities that will be engaging and challenging for a long time to come.
Authors of the large number of books coming out on the subject implore new retirees to find a passion. But, finding a passion when work and family have consumed you for the last thirty or forty years can be a daunting task. If you have no idea what your “passion” is, how do you start to find it?
Experts also advise the newly retired to have a life plan, but how do you plan when you have minimal context for what your life is going to be? Most people plan their retirement activities based on what they didn’t have the time to do while working. Sitting by the side of a stream and fishing sounds delightful to a fisherman who only gets to fish a few days per year. But can a person fill the rest of their life with only fishing? While there may be a few die hard souls that say “yes”, most adult seniors realize that filling twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for the rest of your life can be a challenging endeavor.
The mistake that many people make in looking at retirement activities is asking the question, “Is that my passion?” before they try it out. If there isn’t a flutter in their heart, they are reluctant to pursue it, for fear it won’t be their “passion.” When the passion doesn’t zing them like cupid’s arrow, they begin to feel frustrated and lost.
In the television show What Not to Wear, a guest is chosen to have a clothing makeover. The hosts, Stacy London and Clinton Kelly, review the guests clothing mistakes, give her (or occasionally him) a list of new rules for selecting clothes and then send them out to shop alone. The first day the guest usually wanders from store to store looking at clothes, but seldom trying any on. They’ll pick a jacket off the rack and say things like, “I could never wear that. This follows the rules, but I hate that color or it looks too frumpy.” The next day, Stacy and Clinton join the guest and explain that the key to makeover success is to try clothes on. The hosts start picking items off the rack and counters, saying, “Try this on, and this and this.” It is only in the act of trying outfits on that the person starts to see herself in a new light. At first reluctant to move away from frumpy, baggy clothes, the guest will start to admire the new person in the mirror wearing a stylish jacket, or new dress.
Making a successful transition to retirement requires the same kind of effort. The baby boomer generation has high expectation for their retirement life. When you’ve filled all your time with work and family, exploring new retirement activities can feel like trying on a new outfit. On the rack, it may not look like it will fit. But trying on new activities will give you the opportunity to experience it and then decide whether or not it is for you. Whether your retirement is six months or six years away, make time to try on new activities. Look for activities that may be fun to try, not just for activities that may be your new life passion.
Cathy Severson, MS helps you make the most of your retirement. Find out how to make the rest of your life the best of your life with the complimentary e-book 7 Ingredients for a Satisfying Retirement at http://tinyurl.com/8moymb
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