Retire! Bah Hum Bug

Retire! Bah Hum Bug

You’re as young as you feel , saving the best for last or it isn’t over till I say it’s over might describe the individuals who continue to learn, achieve and grow well into retirement years.  It’s as if they’re just hitting their stride.  Age is but a number.

They have such drive and sense of purpose that it propels them to continue to learn and grow.  Now with the wisdom they’ve earned through the years they’re able to continue to make their mark. What’s interesting is that their achievements are from different venues; fashion, political, athletic, education, science, music and the arts. It’s a true testament that it’s not over until you say it is.

The achievements of the following individuals didn’t happen overnight but were an accumulation and extension of what they’ve already experienced.

“Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another” ~John Dewey

Take a look at just some of the well known individuals who made or continued to achieve and grow in their 70’s.

70 – Dr. William Mayo founds a medical clinic which will bear his name.

71 – Fashion icon Coco Chanel debuts the Chanel suit.

72 – Karl Wallenda, of the famous Flying Wallendas, walks a high wire between the Eden Rock and Fontianebleau hotels in Paris.

73 – Ronald Reagan is elected President of the United States.

74 – Ethel Andrus founds the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

75 – Piano virtuoso Claudio Arrau stays busy ion his seventy-fifth year, performing a total of 110 concerts.

76 – Thomas Jefferson begins designing buildings and developing curricula for the University of Virginia.

77 – Astronaut (and Senator) John Glenn returns to space on the Space Shuttle Discovery mission.

78 – Grandma Moses begins her career as a serious painter.

79 – Giuseppe Verdi composed the opera Falstaff.

There are people all around that are still learning and growing well into their retirement years.  Take my grandpa for example.  He finally gave up dairy farming at the ripe old age of 75.  That’s hard work at any age.  However he didn’t retire, that wasn’t his nature.  He rented out his land to another farmer and took up raising heifers and peacocks.  He also had taken up woodworking in his later years and now that he had more time he began making even more and difficult pieces. No he wasn’t famous but he did set an example for his children and grandchildren to follow.  He finally passed on when he was 91 years old.

What does this tell me? That when you stay engaged in life, have a sense of meaning and purpose you are more likely to live longer and enjoy it more too.

What does it say to you?

All You Need is Love

Boy the Beetles sure did get that right. It’s such a simple phrase yet behind it lies so much meaning.

Let’s break it down. It’s like happiness in that when all the expectations you may have for someone else or yourself doesn’t come through, if you’re still happy, in the end isn’t that all that matters?

To really to the jest of it let’s look at from a devastation point of view. A family has lost everything they have for from war, theft, natural disaster, or fire. I mean everything. All their material possessions are scattered, burned, stolen even their clothes are gone. They have no food or even utensils to make it if they did. No home, just the clothes on their backs. And yet they manage to carry on surviving. They take care of each other. Some would call it faith. When the outlook is so dire where do you go? You go inward to your heart and soul looking for the strength to pull you through. Amazingly with much searching you realize you have everything you need, the love of your family and friends. It’s a strong bond that gives you hope and pulls you through.

Now you don’t have to find yourself in such a crisis to have the same experience. People who go through drug addiction, abuse or a bad marriage can also drag you down to where you have little hope. However, just like the other examples you need to look within for the love that exists in all of us. Look around at all the people willing to help. That’s others showing their love.

Love, it’s the four-letter word to move you forward, calm your emotions, and ultimately pull you through. In the quiet still voice within is the Creator reminding you to love yourself because you’re worth it. The Creator doesn’t make mistakes. He gives you opportunities to grow. It may not appear so at first but in the spiritual world making it through the hard times pays dividends.

In the end love is all we need. 

Want a President Needs to Lead

Want a President Needs to Lead

What are you looking for in a President? First you need to decide what makes a good leader because that is what the President does, lead.  Some people are natural leaders. You see them at work, fund raisers or your family reunion.  They step up to the plate to take on a project. However you’ll notice something else too.  Some are natural leaders while others are doing it for the recognition or power.  What’s the difference?  The natural leader is the person people will follow even if they don’t have the title or have been given the responsibility.  They naturally know what to do.  They exude confidence, clarity and conviction. Oh and another thing, they make decisions that aren’t always popular but are followed because the people respect the person’s decision.

A good leader is a person who has the strength and courage to undertake large projects.  It’s the ability to weave universal principles with everyday life.  This person has the gift of power.  Yes the gift.  As much as power has a negative connotation it also has just as much a positive connotation.

The world needs the CEO, general, and the person of authority.  A leader claims and utilizes his gift of power for the overall goal of the enterprise he’s tasked with directing.  A true leader uses this personal power without dominance or intimidation.  He doesn’t necessarily make popular decisions because he’s making them with a higher purpose in mind. He leads because that’s his natural strength and people follow because they recognize and understand the clear direction they are to take to reach the desired outcome. He gets results.  For him not to lead would be like asking you or me not to breathe.  It’s what he does.

Along with the gift of being a natural leader there are also challenges to it which make the person go from being in the gift of it to being in the challenge of it.  When a person is consumed by the acquisition of wealth, order others around, is intimidating or dominating people then he is in the challenge of it and needs to get back into the gift of it.

So what does a leader look like?  Some of the most recent leaders that have exhibited both the gift and challenge of being in the gift of leadership are General George Patton, Donald Trump, Lee Iacocca and Margaret Thatcher.  If you study the history of how they became leaders and how they conducted themselves you’ll see the gift and challenge of being a great leader.   Each of them gained the experience with each new leadership role they encountered.  Each will go down in history as making a difference in their field.  And one other interesting note, they haven’t always been the most liked or popular at times but were/are respected.

You also have the gift of leadership and when you need it remember to claim it from a place of personal power and not through dominance or intimidation. 

(originally written in 2012)