Tag: Humor

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.

Just plain tuckered out from his morning neighborhood rounds.

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.

Elbow bumps and other COVID-19 adaptations

karate elbow chop into blocks of wood

Yes, it’s serious, especially the idea of not spreading it.

For a look at how humor is being used to lighten current events.

And there’s always ‘laughter yoga’.

For those of you in your ‘next chapter’, you probably have even more time to adopt a ‘try new’ approach to life.

 

Retirement eCard…media consumption takes many forms.

Retirement Book PNG bookcase ESPNFrom my book/eCard collection, Incomplete Book of Retirement Wisdom, which also doubles as a collection of eCards.

Save/download the image above and send it to a retired/soon-to-retire friend or family member.
Better yet…

  • call it up in an image editing program [even a presentation program like PowerPoint will work]
  • slap an even better caption on top of mine or add a personal comment
  • export it as a JPG or PNG, and email/text message it to that person.

My Retirement Book: Self-doubt crept in.

face to face you are your biggest obstacle

***

 

I was probably a little more forgiving to myself during that first year of retirement, but extra discretionary time often leads to more introspection, or an equivalent of what this Huffington Post piece refers to as ‘sensemaking’.

This article highlights research by the University of Cincinnati’s Heather Vough and colleagues who identified a list of the six most common career-ending narratives, including the three most challenging to a retiree’s self-worth:

  • Being discarded
  • Becoming disillusioned
  • Having an epiphany

I experienced a mix of these three and so my first year, while at times leisurely, was more marked by a juggling act of highs and lows and doubts and revelations.

My challenge, and I would guess that of plenty of other retirees, was to write a new script.

More on that in a later post.

Take the time to read the HuffPost piece. I’m betting there will be a realization or two out there if you identify your retirement narrative according to the article’s list.

Photo-a-day 14: Vary your quiet times.

 

buddy and tim reduced

I honestly don’t remember.
Chocolate zucchini cake
Emergency Chocolate Cake

Sometimes, you read. Sometimes, you watch a thoughtful TV show [that DVR lets you race past the annoying ads]. Sometimes it’s music and closed eyes.

And sometimes, a loved one tracks you down.

It all works.

Here is a little more insight on quiet time for retirees.

I’m working on a short book about lessons and realizations during my first year of retirement.

If you’re interested in this and/or
and a fun [in development] community site for retirees, just add the information below.

 

A promise: Your email address will not be shared and will be used to inform you of the book’s status

My weekend of retirement…left to chance–Round 3

Here is my itinerary for the weekend…

October 12-14 copy

Do Something Dice.

Roll for your next adventure.

According to this roll of the dice, over the next two days**, I should aim to:

  1. Visit a museum.
  2. Dessert. I can live with that.
  3. Running. [Perfect. We just adopted an Aussie Shepherd who seems to prefer a higher gear than we’re used to.
  4. Comedy [Time to pull out Dave or Ghostbusters.

How did I do last weekend? Grade: D

  1. The whole weekend was redirected to adopting and acclimating Buddy the Aussie Shepherd.

**I actually count Friday afternoon as the beginning of each retirement weekend.