How to retire and stay well
Latest news.
Were the angels who fear to tread once the fools who rushed in?
Rather than rushing in, new items and ways of communicating are being constantly, slowly and deliberately added to to our site..
There is a Gettingthere facebook page which is up and running and will allow you to express your views and get to know each other.
Could you all go in there and like it and make a comment on some of the articles.
People have mixed views on the effectiveness of Facebook.. However, I will be going on a special training day with them in early December, so I would like to see what you think and how you are using the page . This will make my ways of communicating more effective.. .
The system whereby jobs are placed has started. This is where GettingThere provides an introduction or.handshake. So far, so good. what I would like to know is what sort of positions you are interested in and will get out a questionnaire before the end of the year. .What is coming through is that many of you are looking for variety. If any of you know any businesses who are looking for temporary part time people, could you let me know?
Some of you have also asked me if we are going to have a get together?
Maybe that is something we could look at in January.
How to Retire and stay well
Spend some money on things you enjoy
Spend time with those you love
Manage your health
These three things can prolong your active, connected and healthy life AFTER retirement.
Because we make up an important segment of the population and also because we are heading into unknown territory, ( people did not live as long as we going to live,) the plans that were put in place are not sufficient,
Not our fault, but still we must be more proactive in managing this time.
It does not have to be negative, instead, this could be the best part of our lives.
The AWAKENING by Dr Colm O'Connor
This month I am reviewing a book, The AWAKENING by Dr Colm O'Connor. - Living an enchanted life in a disenchanted world.
The Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that we are made up of 4 interconnecting aspects and these must be kept in balance if we are to thrive.
These 4 parts are the intellectual, the physical, the emotional and the spiritual.
For Dr O'Connor, enchantment /draoicht plays a very strong part in keeping us balanced and is very much a defining part of being human. Animals or plants neither look to the future nor the past. We do. And we do so with Hope and Fortitude. From a very young age, we are aware that there is another realm that we experience.. Small children have great imaginations and can bestow feelings and language to inanimate objects.
His best description of this balance between the realms is the Celtic Cross. Here the horizontal life, crosses the Vertical life. The horizontal is our concerns with the concrete world- with housing, shelter, warmth, food, jobs, entertainment. The vertical is our ability to transcend the horizontal and see beauty, experience drama, appreciate the wonderful, strive for better, enjoy the sweet nothings of life, acknowledge the spiritual, making the marvellous out of the mundane.. If we live all our life in the horizontal we become permanently anxious, stressed, driven to constantly prove ourselves. If permanently virtual, we are zoned out and cut off from the ordinary obligations of everyday life.
The reality is that life is a race against death,We know that. Modern life refuses to accept death. It is seen as some sort of failure and every effort is made to keep some people alive. We are not too pushed about those who have bombs dropped from above. The pilot returns to base and has his dinner.
However, we know that we are not in control of our fate or destiny. We struggle because we are an imaginative being in a mortal body. But this struggle is what makes us heroic. We savour life. We want to overcome adversity. We admire those who manage to wring joy out of difficult circumstances. The Celtic warrior sacrificed himself for the greater good and did so in a magnificent fashion without asking for pity.
To demonstrate his point that things are not always as they seem, Dr O'Connor gives the example of dissecting a brain. Cut it open and what do you find? blood, tissue, nerves. We do not see the personality of the person,-no memories, skills, sounds, talents, photos, experiences or stories
The most important thing is that we do know that we matter. We are significant. A wonderful simple expression that can have a huge impact is : I saw you. I saw you when you.....I noticed what you did or said. I am aware of the effort you are putting into things.
Today, go out there and say to 3 people in your lives: I saw you. Let them know that you are aware of their contribution.
