Choose Wisely Dr. Juan Harrison

There was a time when a number of us might have felt semi-important or at least giving the appearance of being a valued employee or a productive supervisor at some establishment.  You took your name plate off the desk or name tag off your shirt and put it on a shelf in the closet to lie beside some other stuff you’ll never use again.

The challenge then is what’s next.  Some folks jump into retirement with enthusiasm and big plans for travel and visits to the grandkids.  Often, one or both of you, find it more difficult to keep up a relatively active lifestyle as physical issues intrude on your lives.  Maybe fate is hard as you eventually find yourself fighting the battle alone.

It’s about that time when you start taking stock of your life.  Now what?  The old folk song said, “YWou gotta walk that lonesome valley, you gotta walk it by yourself.”  Some of you may find yourself pulled in different directions by family and friends and different hobbies, clubs, by family and church interests.   For others there’s suddenly a big spot to fill.

Then there’s the other folks who hadn’t really given a lot of thought to life after work.  You just thought it would be nice one day to finally be able to sleep a little later, drink that second cup of coffee at your own pace.  Then what?  Kill time until lunch.  Wait for the mailman, think about supper, and decide how early you want to turn in.

There is so much to do out there.  There’s such a need for people to do it.  When friends have told me about thinking about going to work part-time, I caution them.  Us old guys make good dependable employees.  Soon they’ll be trying to pull you into full-time employment.

Some folks still like their old jobs and may choose to hang in there.  For a lot of other older folks we need to proceed with caution.  Most of us don’t have the energy or endurance we need to have, but we can still do a few things, albeit a little more slowly.  We’ve got all the work habits needed to be a valuable asset to a business or a volunteer organization.  We just have to be careful.  Too little activity can find us sitting alone and lonely in the dark; too much activity can leave us pooped.  We have things we can offer.  We just have to decide how much we want to get involved out there.  What I love about retirement is that it’s been my choice how much I want to do in my golden years.  If I wanted to work all the time, I could have just kept my old job.  Choose wisely.  If you haven’t been forced financially to have to go back to work, make that new found free time count.

By Dr. Juan Harrison