GROWING OLDER

Long weekends don't have the same attraction as they used to.  When I was working full time, they were the most cherished weekends, but now, there is nothing exciting about them at all.  In fact weekends themselves have less meaning than they used to.  To retired folks, the weekend is just like any other days of the week. 

This past Thanksgiving weekend felt just the same as any other to us.  Other than make a larger meal than I usually do, it passed just as most weekends do.  We did have some family come to help us eat the turkey dinner and spend a nice evening with us - and certainly that was the high point of the weekend, but the rest of the weekend passed by just as the rest do.

Life certainly is a process of stages, and I suppose events in our lives happen the way they are meant to happen.  But in every stage of our lives, there are changes and we have to make those changes whether we want to or not.

Growing older is not an option, it happens to us all.  It is a stage that sneaks up on us when we are busy living our lives to the fullest.  If we are lucky, it can be a wonderful change, but it's not always and easy one.

When you become the oldest generation in your family, things happen in reverse.  You become the visited, not the visitor.  It takes very little to be "out of the loop".  Is that because others think because you are older and retired you no longer care about life?  Or maybe they think you no longer really have a life?

It seems that when you no longer have a "job" you no longer have an identity.  You are only leading a productive life when you are employed.

Have we always thought these things?  Maybe we have.

It's a misguided notion to believe that because someone has retired from the working world, that they are no longer productive or involved in life.  In many ways people who have quit working for an employer become more productive in their own personal lives.  instead of working for someone else - they work for themselves - and successfully too.

Some retired people take the knowledge they gained in the working world and use it to make something wonderful happen in their retired life.

The Patronizing words "We are so busy", that so many people use, don't only apply to the working world...

In fact, I can say very truthfully, that both Gary and I are busier people in retirement than we ever were when we were working.  We are involved in our community more, we are out more, we socialize more, and we are more physically active...  I guess you could say "We are so busy"!

And we are retired...