areas.
Professionals are taught that, in order to be proficient at their craft, learning should never cease. We must remain students until the end of life. Even teachers should remain students.
Retirement is a wonderful time for learning. The retiree should set aside adequate time to study, not only for self-fulfillment, but also for the gratification of achievement.
SEXUALITY
Nothing gives a sense of youthfulness as much, in my opinion, as an active sex life. Especially in the years after work, a fulfilling physical relationship brings happiness.
In an age group where genital impotence and dryness are routinely more pronounced than in earlier years, adjustments can be made, be they oral or masturbatory, to achieve as frequent an orgasm as desired. This is a physiological as well as a psychological requirement. Glands are meant to secrete for normal functioning.
There are usually no longer young children around to interfere, so with the additional time available and no distractions, sexual activity periods can be planned or spontaneous. In any meaningful relationship, sexual gratification is a proper instinct and should be pleasurable in retirement.
GOALS
Just as you did during your working years, set goals for your retirement years. Don’t just retire from something, retire to something. Whether it’s taking certain vacations, such as visiting exotic countries, climbing a mountain, basking in the sun at the beach or on the deck of a cruise ship, fulfill your goals. Visit cities to which you’ve never been before, even if they are just across your home state. Get up and go!
Don’t procrastinate. Time is no longer on your side. If you are in a new relationship, don’t dilly-dally. See each other as often as possible. Remember, a date each day for six weeks is as much time together as younger people get to experience in a whole year.
If you have been left alone due to a partner’s death, attempt to fill that void. Try going online and visiting dating websites. Have family and friends introduce you to new people. Go to places that cater to singles your age.
Cultivate new experiences. Try new games and activities. Go to that stadium you’ve always dreamed about to see an event of your choosing. Be involved with people, art, sports, music, etc. to your taste. Retirement can be a time of ambition, a time to experience things not possible when work and family matters prevented them.
EXPRESSION
For many, retirement may be the freest time of their lives. Retired people are able to pursue whatever they wish as never before: no parents to answer to and usually no children to physically care for. Now you can seek your heart’s desire, no matter how outlandish or bewildering it may seem to others. Go to Paris and paint. Build model railroads or doll houses. As long as you are able, go fishing twice a week. Go to a dude ranch and ride a horse, go to Egypt and ride a camel or go to India and ride an elephant. Just loll around the house and grill burgers in your backyard. You can do anything you want. There are no bosses, no supervisors and no schedules to meet—only those of your own choosing.
Embrace this freedom. Enjoy it. Relish it. Understand that you own it and count it among your blessings.
AGING
Aging means giving up youthful activities. One by one, a lack of previous abilities necessitates the giving up of something. Physical pursuits have to be curtailed and adjustments have to be made. The best adjustment is to replace an inability with a new activity. If you can no longer play tennis, take up ping pong or another pursuit. If you cannot go for long walks or jog, ride a bicycle. Do something new to replace something lost.
If old friends and family members have moved or passed away, find new ones. Never engage in self-pity; move on. Don’t feel sorry for yourself. You have reached a stage of life others have failed to achieve. You are a survivor. There is too little time left to spend weighed down by guilt.
Accept your retirement as a reward well deserved. Treat it as a new job. Do things to make yourself proud. When younger members of your family promote their achievements, trot out yours. Keep striving within your scope of mind and abilities. Don’t ever quit on yourself.
END GAME
In the United States, in our competitive culture, work has been glorified beyond what is felt in more relaxed societies. In many American circles, retirement has been denigrated to be just a time to wait for death.
Those of us who have enjoyed a much more wonderful experience can readily present a different point of view. Those who choose to embrace retirement should feel that it is a glorious time to do what one wants, as often as one wants, how and when and where one wants, without any stigmatization.
Death should also be embraced. Depending on your religious beliefs, whether you fancy going to heaven, being reincarnated into a higher caste or simply entering a final period of rest and peace, embrace it. Live your retirement days as if each day is your last one and have as much fun and enjoyment as you can.
Never dwell on death. It will eventually come. However, don’t fear it. Embrace it as an ending of all worries and tribulations: a resting in peace and contentment.
EMOTIONAL ASPECTS
Don’t get agitated. Take it easy. You have arrived. Be proud of yourself. Tolerable regimens can lead to new victories. You should feel like a winner. Losing is deflating; accept the challenge of this period of life and treat yourself like a winner.
Every life is filled with mistakes, failures and misfortunes. Do not dwell on the negative. Focus on the good times and positive aspects. Revel in the victories and the successes. Congratulate yourself on overcoming the difficulties. Do this with self-forgiveness and with a strong sense of self-promotion. Retirement is a victory over the pitfalls of labor, over the trials of aging and family and over the maze of life’s changes.
Be victorious in your outlook. Be serene. Be less eager to get angry, less prone to judge and less likely to be offended by criticism. Realize that there are some who criticize indiscriminately to cover up their own insecurities. You have arrived at the pinnacle of living. Enjoy it.
Do not think about what you don’t have or have not accomplished and accept what you do have and appreciate it. No one bats a thousand; even the best baseball hitters get on base less than forty percent of the time. A winning attitude is the best answer to any downturn. Love who you are. You must love yourself before you can love anyone else.
Retirement should not be an end, but the beginning of a new chapter of life. Look forward to retirement with anticipation.
TRANSITIONAL PHASE
No matter how traumatic the circumstance necessitating retirement,
