Having fun is key to a healthy, happy retirement

[obgyn65]

The key to a happy, healthy retirement is having fun:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...d-act/1851271/

The part on "find new meaning" is spot on, IMHO.

[DFW_M5]

Couple the fun with being thankful and appreciative for everything you already have like family, friends, good health, love of mother nature and FI. How could anyone be unhappy with all that?

[T-bird]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 Couple the fun with being thankful and appreciative for everything you already have like family, friends, good health, love of mother nature and FI. How could anyone be unhappy with all that?

Funny thing is that we all know folks that never seem happy. It doesn't matter what they make or how much they "have" it never seems to be enough. I feel sorry for those that cannot or will not appreciate the little things that make our time here a happy and fun one. I guess it depends on if you are a half full or half empty person. I'm glad my glass is always half full and if I drink too much I will have to just top it off.

T-bird
Class of 2013
DW Class of 2012

[DFW_M5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-bird Funny thing is that we all know folks that never seem happy. It doesn't matter what they make or how much they "have" it never seems to be enough. I feel sorry for those that cannot or will not appreciate the little things that make our time here a happy and fun one. I guess it depends on if you are a half full or half empty person. I'm glad my glass is always half full and if I drink too much I will have to just top it off. T-bird Class of 2013 DW Class of 2012

Yep = eeyore

[ERhoosier]

Actually not bad advice for all phases of life.
Happy people tend to live longer.

[W2R]

In retirement, I make sure that I have plenty of fun every day. Sure, I still have to go to the grocery store, run errands, do laundry, and so on, but I also try to incorporate some pure, unadulterated fun into daily life. Goonie once characterized retirement as "Endless days of play!!!", and that is how I see it, too.

Most of my life prior to retirement was not so much fun. It was a lot of work, work, work, and I did not have much chance to play and have fun even in early childhood. Time for a change!

[heeyy_joe]

It will not be much longer until I "ER" at end of 2013. I am quite sure I will then wonder how I ever found the time to fit WORK into my schedule!

[ls99]

Virtually everything I've done since retirement has been fun. Even stuff I considered drudgery at one time is more pleasant.

Having the the flexibility of what to do and when, or if at all, makes it easy.

Having time for kayaking, skating, workouts at the Y, napping, going for coffee, etc. at a time of my choosing is just the cat's mew.

[obgyn65]

This post made me laugh, W2R. So you mean you have a life outside this website where you have posted more than 23,000 times in 5 years or so ? ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R In retirement, I make sure that I have plenty of fun every day. Sure, I still have to go to the grocery store, run errands, do laundry, and so on, but I also try to incorporate some pure, unadulterated fun into daily life. Goonie once characterized retirement as "Endless days of play!!!", and that is how I see it, too.

[traineeinvestor]

With only a few months to go before FIRE and having told the powers that be that i am on my way out, I'm already finding that the stress levels are dropping and I am enjoying myself a lot more than I have in many years. Things that used to drive me nuts now just fly by without leaving any impression. It already feels like I am in party mode....which is surprising. I thought i wouldn't feel like this until well after I'd left and would probably experience some anxiety pre and post retirement.

[steelyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obgyn65 This post made me laugh, W2R. So you mean you have a life outside this website where you have posted more than 23,000 times in 5 years or so ? ;-)

Opie - these mods keep us from killing ourselves. That's part of the post count. Like Tina Turner said, Show Some Respect.

[obgyn65]

There is no need to take my post the wrong way. It was meant as a fun post, and I added a smiley. I respect our mods. Not sure where you see I don't show respect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelyman Opie - these mods keep us from killing ourselves. That's part of the post count. Like Tina Turner said, Show Some Respect.

[CoolChange]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obgyn65 There is no need to take my post the wrong way. It was meant as a fun post, and I added a smiley. I respect our mods. Not sure where you see I don't show respect.

I think I read this post in the spirit intended and hope W2R did as well.

Both W2R's and your post made me smile; frankly, I consider that a nice way to start a Saturday, or any day, even though I am not quire ER yet (after which I expect/hope to spend a lot more of my day smiling).

[obgyn65]

Apologies if there has been any confusion about my post. I was smiling as I wrote it. No offense was meant to anyone.

Have a good weekend everyone and take care.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolChange I think I read this post in the spirit intended and hope W2R did as well. Both W2R's and your post made me smile; frankly, I consider that a nice way to start a Saturday, or any day, even though I am not quire ER yet (after which I expect/hope to spend a lot more of my day smiling).

[antmary]

The nice thing is that these days the stress is gone, for the most part. When DH gets back from the store, we're going garage sailin', and just go where the wind takes us. The big plus in retirement is that we can always pause if we get tired, and, like the kitties, just go home and take a nap....

[67walkon]

I'm 2 months from retirement. Last year, I worked less, took more time off and took less pay. My experience has been that my weekends are too short when I have to go to work Monday and I don't get around to all the "fun" things I want to do on the weekend. During the weeks I took off last year and went to our mountain house, I could never get around to all the "fun" things I wanted to do. I think that when my "retirement" or at least not going to work, starts on April 1, I will have time to do all the fun stuff I like to do and don't have time to do now. Actually, I still won't have time to do everything I want to do.

Fun things? Working out. Riding my bike. A lot. 100+ miles a week while working, who knows when not working? Studying the Bible. Taking care of my orchids, growing vegetables, reading, hanging out with my wife, taking care of our beautiful flowering plants at our NC house, relaxing. Photography projects, woodworking projects. I can't imagine not having fun when I don't have to go to work.

People ask me "what will you do?" when you aren't working. What I really think is all the things I don't have time to do now. I wish I had all the time in the world to learn about new things, to do new things and to experience new things. But I don't. And you don't. But I can sure do a lot more fun things when I'm not workingl

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obgyn65 This post made me laugh, W2R. So you mean you have a life outside this website where you have posted more than 23,000 times in 5 years or so ? ;-)

Dey know how to have fun in N'walins..Trust me!

Ed,
who just made gumbo and Hurricanes for our annual Mardi Gras party in Baku. (Didn't get the guests wrecked this year. ) Laissez les bon temps rouler!!

[Lisa99]

Still have a little more than three years to go until retirement and already my fun meter post retirement is full. Just the highlights:
Yoga, bicycling, swimming, pickleball, water volleyball, ballroom dance lessons, bridge lessons, run a triathlon, gardening, travel, drink a few brewskis, learn to cook some awesome thai food...wow, I'm pooped...back to work before I pass out

[braumeister]

My fun meter has been mostly pegged for the last 11 years since ER. I say mostly because I still worry about keeping the kids off my lawn.

[martyp]

This is a good article.

"Setting new goals prior to retirement can help you manage the stress that often comes with ending a lifetime of work . . . "

I never really understood the part about the "stress" of ending w*rk but I can see it is true for many people.

Finding new meaning was the key to me. Mentally I was ready to leave my w*rk life behind. I was proud of what I was able to do over 30 yrs but that was done and I was ready for something else which for me was ER. I quickly found "projects" suitable for my more relaxed lifestyle. No regrets.