Freedom 55 - Part Two

Another ghastly day of cold commuting. If I hadn’t been so busy keeping my feet warm on the bus I would have tried to figure out a way to retire this afternoon! Now let’s talk about the other three categories, Physical, Spiritual and Active.

Physical

This is one that you should start as soon as possible, like way back in high school. But failing that, get on a program right away. As little as just walking around the block is a huge step forward. In fact, walking is frequently sited as the easiest, cheapest and most reliable way to kick up your activity. I’ve been a walker all my life, something I enjoy a great deal, particularly in the summer, spring and fall when I can really enjoy the nature outside. In the winter, not so much, but I have stepped it up by using the treadmill. Physical activity also helps stimulate other areas as well and has been known to slow down Alzheimer’s. Our book club read “Younger Next Year” by Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge and I really recommend this book as part of your retirement planning reading list. It inspires one to activity. And of course, don’t forget to check out Richard Simmons’ blog, linked with mine. He always has great advice.

Active

Now this is an interesting category. What it means is that you should have a activities or hobbies outside of work (this is a particularly hard category for men to fill). Many women have spent a great portion of their adult lives raising their families but once they are grown time becomes limited to the occasional visit with grandkids. One needs to have activities that are not dependent on one’s family members. Gardening, bird watching, sewing, reading, puzzles, research (say genealogy as an example), studying new languages or other subjects are all good areas to work on. Find some interests and if you still can’t embrace a passion just pull out a dictionary and find the first thing and MAKE it your passion. Don’t be a couch potato because that is the road to depression, Alzheimer’s or other dastardly illnesses.

Spiritual

This is actually a very serious aspect of one’s well being, not just at retirement but through one’s life. It turns out that people with a spiritual anchor live longer and are happier. One doesn’t have to be religious in the sense of embracing a religion in order to have a spiritual side, though I suspect a religion is probably a stronger candidate for anchoring one’s spirituality. If you don’t have such an anchor this would be another area that one could research. I happened to have a recent “The New Yorker” magazine laying around and there was a huge article on Scientology in it. I read the whole thing and was extremely surprised to discover that Scientology is not connected with Christian Scientists. However, I digress from the actual spiritual subject. Fortunately I was raised with some Christian teachings and while I frequently find myself on the fence in my belief I seem to have a fundamental faith in the existence of God. I would say I have a good foundation to develop this side of my 6 sliced circle of retirement!

So there you have some guidelines, sketchy as they are in these two articles.

Now, if I could only discover the perfect map to lead me into EARLY RETIREMENT. Like next week! Well, a girl can dream.