Tuesday, December 8, 2009

What do I do all day? Retirement Pace of Life

Back in August US News and World Report files a story called What Do Retirees Do All Day?  A blog called Contemporary Retirement posted the link to the blog along with a comment I found very interesting.
What do retirees do all day?  According to this US News report, they linger slightly longer over food, sleep, shopping and household chores, and watch 4 hours of TV each day, compared to the 2 and a half hours that the rest of us watches.
Not exactly inspirational is it?  And will food, sleep, shopping, household chores and TV be enough to keep you feeling happy, engaged, enthused and productive?  

Ann Harrison from the UK writes the blog and bills hereself as a "retirement coach".   She works at helping people plan for and then enjoy a happy fullfilling retirement.  When I began to think about the idea of actually learning how to be retired I found it very interesting.  My one goal when I retired was to never get up in the dark again!  Not much of a plan really!  My husband and I just made it up as we went along. Thank heavens it has worked out for us.

My husband and I have been retired 13 years (I think).  Time flies and stuff happens.  We are very active seniors...at least that is the way I see it.  True we don't rush to shop or eat our meals.  We sleep late and have coffee in bed EVERY morning.  We also golf, travel, take care of grandchildren, read and work at learning more about those things that interest us.  I began blogging a few years ago and spend at least one hour a day writing, sometimes more.  I love the pace of our life.  Unlike Ann Harrison, I think lingering over a meal is healthy.   

But the point here is that we need to remain aware of what we are doing with our lives.  We could easily slip into a life dominated by TV, sleep and food.  While not everyone wants to volunteer or take up hobbies we all need to remain mentally and physically active.  We all need a "job" to be done or a "goal" to be achieved.  Linger over your meals, sleep late if you want too.  Just remember that you will enjoy that leisure a lot more if it is complimented by a task that leaves you feeling fulfilled!

Have a wonderful day.

b
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1 comment:

  1. Unlike Ann Harrison, I think lingering over a meal is healthy.

    Can't quite see how or where I implied that lingering over a meal was unhealthy... but thanks for the link.

    Ann

    ReplyDelete

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