Anita, Age 70
I turn 70 on Oct. 9th. I have been retired for 4 years and am trying to stay busy and alert. I have been able to travel a couple of times outside of the US with a college class of nurses. I am not a nurse but they let other go on these trips. I have enjoyed this very much but am not able to go every year because of finances.
I live in a small town in Texas and try to stay busy but I find it difficult sometime to get new ideas for activities. I am also a single female. I go to the symphony in Lubbock.
My mother lived to be 92 but suffered from back problems, macular degeneration and later in life dementia. I hope to avoid these as long as possible.
Kay, please re-read your letter and you’ll discover a lot of points. Example, you’re 70 years old with “lots of physical issues” and 3 years more to live possibly?
Can you quit your job or at least do it only part time? You obviously are unhappy with the “smallest apartment on earth”. You need to look at what makes you
happy/unhappy and shift gears in a mindful manner. Keeping your mind occupied is fine and dandy but do you have dear friends you can turn to? Family?
Blessings to you and yours.
I am turning 70 in October and have lots of physical issues; they say I don’t have more than 3 years to live but who knows. My problem is that I don’t have a “life.” I work and that takes up energy. But, nothing’s fun anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of interests so keeping my mind occupied isn’t the problem. It’s just that there’s nothing that I look forward to besides seeing my son when he’s around and the pets when I come home for work… But “fun” simply escapes me.
One time, about 5 years ago I was out riding around in the car with my son and his friend, of course I was in the back seat. It was night-time in a popular everything happens on Friday-night kind of town and people were everywhere, the radio to the car was on, breezes blowing through the car and for a few minutes I actually felt the magic of enjoying things…then as fast as it came, it was gone. Wow, what a memory. Also…I moved from a nice country place to the smallest apartment on earth and so I don’t get to enjoy the country anymore.
I think it’s age, but maybe we all get like this?
Hello – I think it takes time to find the routines that will serve you well in retirement.
You might want to try setting up a group that you would like to belong to – movies once a week, a book club, cooking club. Invite one friend to join and ask them to invite a friend and so on.
Best wishes, Sandra