I have been reading a good book titled “Older And Happier!” by Dag Sebastian Ahlander. He has 109 handy ideas for living life to the fullest. It’s about living the good retirement life from his perspective as a happy old man.
As a retired person and a student of retirement, I could relate to so many of Dag’s ideas. They are simple but effective. Here are some of my favorites.
1. Keep in mind that time is short but life is long
He reminds us that we have had a long life and seen so many changes and events. It is not that life is short, but the time remaining is short.
He reminds us to grab hold of life right now and make something great of what is left. The road doesn’t go on forever and we are on the homestretch.
2. First and foremost: be a happy old man!
The most important is to accept your age and enjoy it’s many opportunities. Greet each morning with smile. Everything depends on your attitude and health. Let your perspective expand. Accept life’s terms and make the best of them. Forget all the bad things that have happen in your life and just move on.
3. Don’t Downsize
This is an interesting one to me since I just bought a retirement home the same size as my current home, so I must agree. He says you will need a bigger space now, because you can finally enjoy it for guests, hobbies, computer room.
4. Don’t become a micromanagement guru
I like this one. He days don’t dwell on the small things like you did for years at work. Try to see the bigger picture. Throw out old papers and things that never gave you pleasure. Don’t hoard.
5. Live in the present
Nothing says old age like living in the past. Don’t fight the times. Everything didn’t used to be better.
6. Let go of former prestige.
Men especially have identified too heavily with our careers. Give it up. The hierarchies are gone, how liberating! Talk with each other on a level field and you will have a more active social life.
Wow, that is only 6 of the 109 ideas in Dag’s book about being happy in retirement. Of course he goes into more details about the above points and others in the book. Any baby boomer leading up to retirement should read his boomer book to pick up on some of his helpful ideas. Those of us who are already in retirement can nod in agreement and be reminded of what we have learned on our own and to BE HAPPY.
Originally posted 2015-01-07 16:39:02.
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I would add, follow your own path into the second half of life & beyond. Do not be concerned with what society tries to dictate since it’s irrelevant.
I agree with the saying that “Baby Boomers Get Older and Grow Happier.” I read this book that really helped me rejuvenate my sense of self-worth. Here’s the book: “Re-Branding Yourself after Age 50: Re-Charge your Career, Start a Business or Achieve More Professional Success in Midlife by Marva Goldsmith.”After reading it, I started to realize that we can restart our ambitions to begin a new chapter with new found hope in successful careers. Life continues to blossom with a new chosen direction. I suggest that anyone looking to rekindle motivation to achieve professional success to read this book. It’s available on : http://www.amazon.com. What are your thoughts ?
Hi Robert Fowler, I would like to thank you for this post. I like the steps that you describe in this post about “older and happier”. In the latter part of one’s life you realize to live every day and appreciate the little things. It is necessary to keep yourself happy because you will never get life once again to live. I will give you 100 out of 100 points for this impressive work, keep writing.
http://www.assertmeds.com
Six ideas to be Older and Happier mentioned above in post are truly tends to living a life like you wish.
It is always said that do what you want to do live like a king.
Above instruction are much helpful to achieve this.
Thanks for sharing it.
I totally believe in the concept of living life to the fullest. I was reading somewhere, that the probability of we being born, the way we are is insanely slim (I don’t remember the exact data). But I simply want to say that we are extremely lucky to be born Us. Don’t waste this opportunity. Life is an act. Live it and enjoy it before the curtains come rumbling down.