"They" say
 |
| Friends since grade school Cali visit 2008 |
- "It's just a number"
- "You're only as old as you feel"
- "Looking good is better than feeling good"
- "Confidence is everything."
My number is 61. Of late, I've been feeling substantially older and there's no trade-off for not feeling good. Confidence? It lies somewhere between a good day at work and how well my makeup goes on in the morning.
I'm on that precarious balance beam between aging and OLD AGE. No matter how often I walk toe to heel up and down the beam, I lean in towards the tired and decrepit side. Yes. I "lean in" but not the way Sheryl Sandberg advocates. I'm tired and mad as hell and I don't want to play any more!
Pitty party petulant? You bet. Envious of my retiring friends with money saved? Yes again. Fear of the future? Definitely.
 |
| Class of 1969 H.S. Reunion held 2008 |
What to do?
Possible options:
- Plastic surgery
- Frequent facials
- More exercise, less food
- More time spent with old friends
- Create an exit strategy for when you retire or get fired
Of course, applying work strategies to personal problems may or may not be the best solution. But it is a dispassionate approach. I can already rule out the plastic surgery. I'd have to dip into retirement funds and that ain't gonna happen. I was getting frequent facials for a while and they helped. They're expensive, however, at $60 per. That means something else has to go and it's not going to be my hair cuts & color every six weeks. Those will be the last thing I ever give up.
More time spent with old friends my age is the most appealing. We can talk without flinching about things forty years back, an uncomfortable elephant in the room when meeting new people not clued in to our exact decade in life. Being a "Sixties" kid is not what it used to be. I like the camaraderie of shared experiences. It binds and comforts us.
My husband and I are thinking hard about our next act, where to live and how to afford it.
More time spent with old friends my age is the most appealing. We can talk without flinching about things forty years back, an uncomfortable elephant in the room when meeting new people not clued in to our exact decade in life. Being a "Sixties" kid is not what it used to be. I like the camaraderie of shared experiences. It binds and comforts us.
 |
| Party in Westlake Village, CA 2008 |
I'd love to hear your thoughts and/or experiences on the subject of retirement planning. Even if you're not there yet, you probably have ideas along the lines of what you'll do.
