Weird? Faced a lot of hardship? Take heart.

[ER Eddie]

I was happy to read in Get a Life that people who are happily retired tend to share two qualities:

1. Having had a harder life than most, having faced a lot of adversity and overcome it, as opposed to people who've had an easier ride. Somehow this prepared them for the challenges of retirement.

2. Being an odd bird, an eccentric, someone who did not fit in with their contemporaries very well. A non-conformist, someone who marched to the beat of their own drummer, as opposed to their more popular peers. Somehow this also prepared them for a satisfying retirement.


That wasn't the whole list of things that bode well for retirees -- there were many more -- but I found it encouraging to hear about those two qualities in particular, since I share them yet sometimes think of them as negatives. It was good to hear that they are actually positive traits for retirement.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

ROTFLMAO!

I ain't there yet but I am definitely a #2.

And there are a lot of #2's here with me.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

+#2

 

[FIREd]

A small dose of hardship and a large dose of weird for me!

 

[comicbookgujy]

I'm both #1 and #2.

#2 is Probably why most of us want to get away from the cubicle as soon as we can.

 

[Nodak]

Both #1 and #2

 

[MichaelB]

I suspect #2 is indirectly a quality that brings us together here.

As for #1, that is harder to judge. I know many who faced real hardship yet feel their life has been one of good fortune, and others that have yet to face real challenges but carry a chip on their shoulder or feel sorry for themselves.

 

[Midpack]

I suspect #2 is indirectly a quality that brings us together here.

I don't know anything about them except the name, but I always wondered why anyone would want to join http://ioof.org/ - now I know?

 

[LitGal]

Yup!

Both #1 and #2, for DH and me.

 

[Nodak]

I don't know anything about them except the name, but I always wondered why anyone would want to join Independent Order of Odd Fellows - now I know?

I never joined but my Grandfather was a member and my Grandmother and Mother were in the Rebekahs.

 

[heeyy_joe]

In a certain town there was a man in the I.O.O.F. that everyone in town always called ODD.

He really got so tired of it that one of his last wishes was that his tombstone be blank except for date of birth and death. He thought this would be the end of people calling him ODD. Of course, every time someone would say "hey that stone has no name on it" the other person would reply "that's ODD".

 

[REWahoo]

Both #1 and #2

Don't you people ever tire of toilet humor?

 

[YoungSaver]

I am definitely a #2.

 

[rbmrtn]

+#2

I think we were all 2+

 

[Onward]

Brief but life-changing hardship.

Thoreau disciple, definitely.

 

[Calico]

I was happy to read in Get a Life that people who are happily retired tend to share two qualities:

1. Having had a harder life than most, having faced a lot of adversity and overcome it, as opposed to people who've had an easier ride. Somehow this prepared them for the challenges of retirement.

2. Being an odd bird, an eccentric, someone who did not fit in with their contemporaries very well. A non-conformist, someone who marched to the beat of their own drummer, as opposed to their more popular peers. Somehow this also prepared them for a satisfying retirement.

That wasn't the whole list of things that bode well for retirees -- there were many more -- but I found it encouraging to hear about those two qualities in particular, since I share them yet sometimes think of them as negatives. It was good to hear that they are actually positive traits for retirement.

Thank you for posting this. Definitely #2 here, all the way.

After the week I've had at work, I am delighted to hear that my oddities will FINALLY pay off in a happy retirement.

 

[Meadbh]

#2 and proud of it!

Now get off my lawn!

I don't have a lawn......

 

[growing_older]

Any minor setbacks I've faced have been much less than hardship. But I don't always fit well with my contemporaries. Does that mean I am almost cut out for early retirement, or I will only get there almost early?

 

[ER Eddie]

Thank you for posting this. Definitely #2 here, all the way.

After the week I've had at work, I am delighted to hear that my oddities will FINALLY pay off in a happy retirement.

You're welcome. Here's the full text.

"1. Honor Your Eccentricity. Throughout most of our lives, many if not most of us strive mightily to fit in. Whether we are in the fifth grade, in high school, on the basketball team at college or at work, the great majority of us want to be accepted by the people around us. But perhaps somewhat surprisingly, many of the most successful retirees I interviewed claimed to have failed miserably at doing this, referring to themselves as 'wacky,' 'weird,' or a 'lifelong misfit.' Indeed, having so many energized seniors tell me how socially inept they had been as younger adults caused me to wonder if the very fact that these people had to come to terms with being 'odd' earlier in life helped give them the strength to do well later.

'At first it surprised me when so many life-loving retirees cheerfully described themselves as 'odd,' 'a little nuts,' or even 'a true deviant,' but when this theme kept cropping up, I took it more seriously. Eventually, I even began asking my interviewees if they believed that odd or eccentric retired people do better than their more conformist peers. The majority answered with a resounding 'yes.' One friend explained it like this: 'I am the first to admit that I have always been a little odd. You can't help but observe how you fit -- or in my case, often don't fit -- into the world. The result is that I gained a sense of humility, or reduced expectations about life that many conventionally popular people never achieve. Thus I was better adapted to being old in America, a country where everyone over 60 is considered weird.'

2. Develop and Respect Toughness. A common demoninator of many of the retirees I identified as living particularly well was a belief that in their earlier years they had lived harder lives than many of their contemporaries. They believe that having had to cope with tough problems as children or young adults left them better equipped to deal with old age -- a time when living a fulfilling life commonsly requires putting all sorts of survival skills to work. A common attitude seemed to be, 'Yes, getting old is rough. I look like a prune, my physical problems have increased, and I am often lonely. So what? I learned years ago that life can be hard and that each day I have a choice -- I can give up or I can confront my obstacles and either overcome them or learn to live with them the best I can.' " (Get a Life, pp. 147-148).

 

[MichaelB]

I suspect #2 is indirectly a quality that brings us together here.

2. Being an odd bird, an eccentric, someone who did not fit in with their contemporaries very well. A non-conformist, someone who marched to the beat of their own drummer, as opposed to their more popular peers. Somehow this also prepared them for a satisfying retirement.

Don't you people ever tire of toilet humor?

I rest my case.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

 

[Delaney]

I'm #1 and #2.

These findings make sense to me. Being #1 might help with planning.

I think being #2 might make it more important to escape the cubicle and also makes it less likely that we would be bored in retirement.

 

[Calico]

You're welcome. Here's the full text.

"1. Honor Your Eccentricity. Throughout most of our lives, many if not most of us strive mightily to fit in. Whether we are in the fifth grade, in high school, on the basketball team at college or at work, the great majority of us want to be accepted by the people around us. But perhaps somewhat surprisingly, many of the most successful retirees I interviewed claimed to have failed miserably at doing this, referring to themselves as 'wacky,' 'weird,' or a 'lifelong misfit.' Indeed, having so many energized seniors tell me how socially inept they had been as younger adults caused me to wonder if the very fact that these people had to come to terms with being 'odd' earlier in life helped give them the strength to do well later.

'At first it surprised me when so many life-loving retirees cheerfully described themselves as 'odd,' 'a little nuts,' or even 'a true deviant,' but when this theme kept cropping up, I took it more seriously. Eventually, I even began asking my interviewees if they believed that odd or eccentric retired people do better than their more conformist peers. The majority answered with a resounding 'yes.' One friend explained it like this: 'I am the first to admit that I have always been a little odd. You can't help but observe how you fit -- or in my case, often don't fit -- into the world. The result is that I gained a sense of humility, or reduced expectations about life that many conventionally popular people never achieve. Thus I was better adapted to being old in America, a country where everyone over 60 is considered weird.'

2. Develop and Respect Toughness. A common demoninator of many of the retirees I identified as living particularly well was a belief that in their earlier years they had lived harder lives than many of their contemporaries. They believe that having had to cope with tough problems as children or young adults left them better equipped to deal with old age -- a time when living a fulfilling life commonsly requires putting all sorts of survival skills to work. A common attitude seemed to be, 'Yes, getting old is rough. I look like a prune, my physical problems have increased, and I am often lonely. So what? I learned years ago that life can be hard and that each day I have a choice -- I can give up or I can confront my obstacles and either overcome them or learn to live with them the best I can.' " (Get a Life, pp. 147-148).

Thanks - very interesting! I'm going to check out the book.

 

[ejman]

#1 throughout the day, # 2 every morning like clockwork. Maybe I should read what we are talking about first?

 

[Major Tom]

Don't you people ever tire of toilet humor?

After reading this, it feels a little Freudian declaring that I'm more of a #2 guy.

I don't think I've experienced any significant hardships, and if I had, I'd have blithely ignored them and concentrated instead on how I was going to get where I wanted to be.