What’s a Golden Vision?
Sunset or Golden Years? I prefer to think of retirement as Golden rather than Sunset years. Yes, a sunset is beautiful, but it also infers an end once that sun sets, and I don’t want to be focused on the end! I want to focus on how I can make my retirement years Golden as in flourishing, successful and thriving! And to do that we must have a vision and a plan today.
As many of you know my focus over the last seven years has been working with baby boomers and aging seniors as a Seniors Real Estate Specialist. During this time I also had the privilege of supporting my mom when she exercised her right to die with dignity back in 2020. This experience had a profound effect on me, and I’ve found myself spending hours thinking about my own mortality, not in a morbid way, but in a realistic way that has driven home the truth that I, too, shall one day make my transition.
It has also inspired me to look more consciously at the time I have left and how I really want to spend it both now and during retirement. I’m so clear that I don’t want to leave this planet with a bunch of regret wishing I had done certain things or been a better person.
And even though retirement for me is still a good thirteen years away from the official retirement age, I’ve learned that anything worth having, experiencing or becoming takes time and requires both a vision and a plan. So here are some of things I want to have, be and experience during my golden years:
- Good health
- Loving relationships
- Intellectual stimulation
- Adventure
- Constant learning
- Creativity
- Social interaction and deeper connections with people I care about
- Sharing wisdom
- Connection with nature
- Financial stability
I’ve also realized that in order to have all of this during retirement I must start NOW! I don’t just want good health as I’m aging, I want to be healthy NOW. I don’t just want more adventure in my 60’s, I want more of it NOW. I don’t want to have more connection with others and nature after I retire, I want more of that NOW! I don’t just want to share my wisdom fifteen years from now, I want to share what wisdom I have NOW. So in service of creating the most golden years of my life, I must start envisioning, planning and acting NOW.
What does enjoying your golden years look like to you? Consider making that a priority today because:
Yesterday is but a dream,
Tomorrow only a vision,
And today well lived
Makes every yesterday
A dream of Happiness
And every Tomorrow
A Vision of Hope.
Here’s to your Golden years, starting Today!