A gift for a retired friend
Sunsets–another reason to leave the recliner
My good (and retired) friend’s wife–an expert photographer–took this photo outside of Marysville, California just yesterday.
Needless to say, they left their recliners, right?
Hoping your Thanksgiving weekend is going well. Buddy here is pleased so far. Seems he likes the idea of us leaving our recliners.
Need more deep insights into retirement?
Check out my insanely overpriced book.
Reasons to leave the recliner–the occasional splurge
It’s been so easy to settle into the daily routine of hot Italian roast, toast, and fruit around 7:30 [after The Little Commander gets his morning stroll.], followed by my daily intentional dodge of all things ‘news’ by clicking over to my personal comics page.
But there comes a time when you have to embark on a mission of self-sacrifice. In this case, we waited till 9:00 for our favorite breakfast place to open.
Along with two ample breakfast sandwiches [the other halves we’ll eat tomorrow], I–to quote my wife–‘over-ordered’. The evidence is at the top of this post. To be fair to myself (and hey, if I don’t, who will?), I don’t recall her shaking her head in displeasure as I phoned in our requests.
So go on, leave that living room and look to create rather than consume some entertainment. There will be times (yesterday, for instance), when ‘consumption’ wins out.
Reasons to leave the recliner–neighborhood walks
We’ve been graced with imaginative and humorous neighbors who keep these ursine friends dressed to match seasons and current events.
When I take and share photos, I also try to keep ‘declare it art’ in mind.
So go on, leave that living room and look to create rather than consume some entertainment.
Goodwill Words Gallery, retiredguys.net, etc.
From my other sites…
Goodwill Words Gallery [A favorite project]
Retiredguys.net [Helps me keep tabs on this next chapter.]
Word Inventions [Just added a Seth Godin post. The guy is so sharp.]
Side Hustle Curator [nearing 300 posts. I just like passing along some helpful content to others. You’d think I’d repurpose some of this, wouldn’t you?]
Yes, I’m still as retired as ever.
And sometimes, tired as ever.
Change ‘and’ to ‘or’.
Derek Sivers…smart guy. Helpful, down-to-earth insights. Shared freely right here in excerpts from his book, Hell Yeah or No–what’s worth doing.
I ran across this one today: Procrastination hack: change “and” to “or”
He saw that he was applying too many ‘musts’ to his list before making time to exercise. Result: Not enough fitness sessions. ‘And’ to ‘or’ made all the difference.
As retired guys, it seems like a good idea to set aside too many conditions and cut ourselves a little slack.
Give it a try.
Check out my insanely overpriced
The Incomplete Book of Retirement Wisdom
Retired can simply mean refocused.
There is something about retirement that opens your mind to ‘the finish line’.
Saw this sign a while back in Mt. Vernon, WA.
Found it interesting to witness others’ bucket list items.
One of mine: Visit Canada again…either west coast or east coast. Even better–if/when things calm down, take the CP Rail from one coast to the other.
Another one: FINISH one of my writing/content projects.
What’s on your bucket list? Let that list energize your days.
Not sure how to start a bucket list? Take a look at this interesting categorized list of 200 bucket list items.
Stop the heresy!
Reminded myself today of the manic pace of Twitter, chockful of repetition [which I can live with, as long as I have the license to roll my eyes].
But there’s also lethal advice posing as healthy lifestyle choices.
Take note…
— “You don’t need coffee, drink water.” (I’m an ardent follower of my good friend’s dad mantra: “Hey, water just rusts my pipes.”)
— “You don’t need chocolate & sweets–eat fruit.” (Unless that fruit is nestled inside puff pastry, that whack-job needs to be rooted out and summarily dismissed to a low-bandwidth principality..)
So, retired folks, be wary. Stay vigilant. The Internet is crawling with loons like this.
Nap well, my friends.
Cuppa joe? Bald no mo’.
Now just calm down everybody. I’m not trying to sell anything here. Unless, of course–okay, never mind.
***
Having just learned why deer don’t eat daffodils, I moved on to uses for stale coffee beans. (Not at all related, but that’s the thing, retired guys, why waste time on linear thinking?)
Son of a gun if I didn’t run across some life-changing tips…
Coffee Affection tells me to use it on my scalp to stimulate hair growth and improve its texture.
I can see it now (assuming anyone would be seen in public with me)…
Desperate friend in need of social contact: Oooh! I’m smelling some nice Italian Roast.
Me (tilting my head toward him): Yep, double-duty! Great with my morning scone and an hour later, the dregs were in my scalp.
Desperate friend (flicking soggy grounds off my shoulder): You are supposed to rinse’em out, right?
Me: Eventually. But the ski cap contains it pretty well…Hey, where you going?
***
Glad someone’s checking on me…
Yep, thank God for email connections. Question: If I don’t respond to this, will the U.N. (or, more precisely, the ‘United Nations Organization’) assume I’m dead? I’d better clear that up.
I’m also wondering if someone with ‘Oliver’ in the email address really IS all that interested in my welfare.
But hold on now…he’s with the United Nations, so of course he’s concerned.
What makes Oliver think I might be splayed across the recliner with some air fryer infomercial blaring at me? Have I given off a ‘near-death’ vibe lately?
But really, how DARE Google question the validity of this message…
It’s not as if anyone would send anything illegitimate via the Internet, would they?
Retire*Renew*Reinvent 