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Patrick M. Kennedy (P
Manvel Kennedy) has been a professional writer,
editor, and graphic artist for over 30 years. He is
the author of two books: How
to Have Fun with Retirement and his latest book
Being
a Senior Citizen: You rnew phase of life with
many questions looking for answers. He
currently works from Boise, Idaho. In the past he
has worked from Seattle, Indianapolis, and Las
Vegas. He keeps busy because he knows it is
important when writing or editing any material with
a particular objective in mind, for either personal
use or business goals, to present ideas with
quality, clarity and accuracy. He can do that, and
he does most of it himself, but he occasionally
must call upon qualified associates for
assistance.
"My Resume shows me as an experienced
professional writer and editor who specializes in
the English language. With years of professional
experience in the writing/editing/graphics field, I
offer quality services to both individual and
business clients, with prompt and accurate
solutions designed to meet their needs, and online
editing services and writing services for easy and
quick results. www.abetterword.com
Picture This
Your feet are up resting on the rail of a balcony
overlooking the ocean’s rolling tide, with the
multi-colored glowing sunset shining on your
smiling face. The birds are chirping on nearby
green and budding trees and occasionally dark
silhouettes of a few of them fly between you and
the distant glow. You lean out from your lounge
chair and set your favorite beverage on the small
table next to you; you nestle down in the chair;
you adjust the just-purchased sunglasses; you fold
your arms; and you can’t help the smile on
your face from growing longer and wider.
Pictures like this are dreams that have come
true; or dreams of wishes you hope come true. You
have either worked hard to get there, or are now
working hard to get there. Seniors and soon-to-be
seniors have different levels of these pictures;
either the full color of reality or the
black-and-white of wishes yet to come true.
Pictures for seniors come in two forms; dreams
of the future, and memories of the past. Dreams
come from one source, hopes and wishes for a fine
future. Memories come from dozens of sources and
ages, both good and bad, and are building blocks
for the excellent future. Some you can do and make
come true, and some you can’t. As they say,
‘that’s when the rubber hits the
road,’ some roll on and some don’t.
“We all have dreams. But in order to make
dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of
determination, dedication, self-discipline, and
effort,” said Jesse Owens. Oh Oh! That sounds
like work, and we seniors know from years of
experience that nothing comes for free, or easy,
and are handed to us on a silver platter. Whoops,
there’s that sunset again beckoning to you
from a distant vision lodged someplace in the
memory bank of the brain. If it would only come
true; but the fact is, “You have to dream
before your dreams can come true,” said Abdul
Kalam the former President of India and freedom
fighter. The idea is to not disregard those dreams
but use them for a plan for the future.
Now back to those memories. Memories are what we
are or have been, and that is a fine place to start
building the future. “Take care of all your
memories. For you cannot relive them,” sang
Bob Dylan, but that isn’t in actual fact true
if you are a senior starting over and not a
teenager fiddle-dee-deeing away the time waiting
for the next memory. After all, a memory is the
mental faculty of retaining and recalling past
experience, the act or an instance of remembering;
recollection. A senior probably remembers sitting
on the balcony leaning against the railing on one
day of vacation … it was heaven then and can
be again with a little planning and foresight. The
idea is for a senior to dig back into that memory
bank and find those bits of heaven that ought to be
created for the future, or at least given a good
examination.
Or picture this; maybe what you are doing now is
all you want to do. Feet up on your lounge chair,
the TV on and maybe a book in your hand, and the
freedom to do whatever, whenever you want to. You
have your friends and family around you, the house
is all paid for, your bowling or bridge team is
winning, golf is something you have always wanted
to learn or at least take more time perfecting that
walk in the sun.
Or picture this – you can change if you
want to; or you can stay the same if you want
to.
Paradise
What is paradise for seniors? In common terms it
would be the state of ecstasy, delight, joy, bliss
or even seventh heaven, although many don’t
want to go there quite yet. It is conceptually a
counter-image of the supposed miseries of human
civilization, a senior’s life in this case. In
simpler terms, it is what makes a senior happy?
“But what is happiness except the simple
harmony between a man and the life he leads?”
said Albert Camus. And that is a good question. The
life a senior leads dictates the level of
happiness, or none if that is the case, and that
should be the goal: good things in life.
Maybe it could it be as simple as remembering
the good old days? Sometimes these memories can
bring one out of the doldrums. There were a lot of
good things that happened to this point. Family,
friends, special events, parties, even as far back
as school and even when you were a cheerleader or
an end on the football team, they all enter into
the happiness category. Maybe that time you decided
to learn to play a musical instrument and you
joined the school band. Perhaps just going over old
photos can bring a senior out of the gray skies and
into the sunlight. Remember when; remember when;
remember when, it can spark a light that can turn
into a smile.
What do you want? Fewer candles on the cake at
the birthday party; same discount rate at the
grocery store you get at the movie theater; the
looks and energy of a teenager? Or is that just and
a dream of real paradise, or just wishful thinking?
Maybe paradise can’t totally happen, but close
is OK too. Getting as much as possible toward the
goal of happiness, little things here and there can
add up over time.
Good health is one thing that can be controlled
to some extent. First, taking the medications the
doc prescribes to control blood pressure and maybe
diabetes is a good start. Watching the numbers on
the weight scale grow less and less will be a help.
One way to do this of course is watching the diet.
Cut out the two or three cupcakes with the morning
coffee is a start and replace them with a health
bar; leave the beer in the refrigerator; and the
candy bowl goes into the trash. A little exercise
will help, but not too much, just enough to keep
the muscles flexible and the heart healthy as well
as dropping a few calories. Plain old walking will
be OK here, start slow and short and go longer and
further as time goes on. Yes, you have heard all
this before and maybe you are already doing it, but
do it with a smile on your face and convince
yourself your goal is paradise.
Quit spending so much of your little income on
things you don’t really need. A little money
in the bank creates a comfort zone and allows less
worrying, thus a more easy going existence. Not
really ecstasy, delight, joy, bliss or even seventh
heaven, but a little closer. “Money can’t
buy happiness, but it can make you awfully
comfortable while you’re being
miserable,” said Clare Boothe Luce. But the
idea here is to get beyond miserable and be a
little better than you are now.
Just plain relaxing is a key to this goal, and
sitting back with eyes closed in sort of a
meditative state for about fifteen-, twenty-minutes
a day can help in this. Even if you play a little
soft music at the time and ride the notes around
the room in your minds, it helps. “You are the
music while the music lasts,” said T. S.
Eliot. Even work your hobby with that music
playing.
Paradise isn’t the Garden of Eden or Heaven
on Earth or Pie in the Sky because it is
attainable; it is just a good personal attitude
that guides life day by day through trying times to
a higher level. To many seniors retired life can be
very trying, but that must be brushed aside and
made inconsequential, practice doing better things
that you enjoy … and don’t forget to
smile.
Life is good
As retired seniors we can do what we want, when we
want, and where we want to do it. It’s almost
like being a hap-hazard, the devil-may-care kid
again. Of course, there are some restrictions: like
health, money, transportation, companionship, and
then the big factor, the energy to do whatever,
whenever, and wherever. But it’s not a
hallucination of things that are in fantasy land,
it is right there at our fingertips. The key to
this dream is to wake up and do it. Decisions and
self-discipline must take over; gee, it almost
sounds like work again. However it really is a job
to get off our fanny and have fun. If you have a
mate, a partner, you can talk it over and plan it
with them. If you don’t, maybe you can find a
friend to talk it over with. Or, the ultimate
decision and predicament, can you do all this by
your little self?
Buck up and go at it; make plans, make lists,
gather your resources and inventory of what can and
cannot be fun to use or take with you if it is a
trip you are planning. And if it’s a trip,
chart the plan on a map … or not … maybe
just pack a bag and get in the car and drive, or
hop a plane or train and get somewhere else other
than TV land and a can of beer.
Although maybe it’s not even a trip you
have in mind but another fantasy … maybe a
hobby or planting a garden or just building a patio
and barbeque in the back yard so you can have
parties. Making new friends or entertaining the
ones you have is always a good plan. Burgers and
dogs grilling on a barbeque create a hypnotic aroma
that blends all personalities into one good time.
Throw in a few beers and a game of horseshoes or
croquet in the backyard, or even the front, and it
generates laughter at a fever pitch.
You don’t have a yard or a house, you say,
only an apartment or condo is where I live. Well
the party just has to get a little smaller and the
kitchen stove, and many times the kitchen itself,
becomes the center of gossip and life-saving
serious chit-chat about non-important things.
Maybe all that activity of traveling and
partying isn’t your cup of tea, as they say.
An easy-going hobby might be just the thing to keep
the mind in high spirits. Painting with oils or
watercolors is one thing, wood carving another,
sculpting old junk into odd hunks of art is
another, or building bird houses for the
neighbor’s and park’s trees is another,
or writing that great American novel for the world
to read is a time-consuming and maybe rewarding
undertaking. In any of these fun tasks your
imagination just takes over and you are a step out
of reality and in a fun place.
This issue of spare time brings up another
solution to keeping busy. Volunteering for some
activities in the area can fill some of this void;
working at the church, or for charities, or even
the humane society taking care of lost pets, or if
you drive delivering Meal on Wheels is a good thing
for other seniors, or even baby sitting or house
sitting for the neighbors helps yourself and
them.
Nevertheless, this life is good no matter what
you do. But as D. H. Lawrence said, “Life is
ours to be spent, not to be saved.” And how
each of us spends that time of life is a personal
decision: either doing things, or not doing things.
Sometimes just sitting around doing well-deserved
nothing, or reading a book, or even watching TV is
doing something, your decision. This being a senior
thing is not so bad after all.
Past – Present –
Future
There were so many keen things in the past for
today’s seniors. The lowdown of this snazzy
earlier period will be a wacky and juicy journey,
and fun, and will open your blinkers to many past
dreams and familiarities. The memories will blow
your wig. The first thing that comes to mind is the
Golden Age of Radio and all those dingy radio shows
you used to listen to as a family while gathered
around the old white-enamel radio sitting on the
souvenir cabinet in the living room. Fibber Magee
and Molly, The Shadow (‘Only the Shadow
knows’), Amos ‘n’ Andy, Adventures
of the Thin Man, Abbott and Costello (‘Hey
Abbott!’ or ‘Who’s on First?’),
Gunsmoke, and music by Artie Shaw, Bing Crosby,
Ella Fitzgerald, Glen Miller and Louis Armstrong,
to name only a few. Usually a half-an-hour at a
time trip into another world, and your mind would
forget all the problems around you.
No TV in the real old days, but oh the movies
that drew you downtown to the movie house. Lust for
Life; The Treasure of Sierra Madre; Arsenic and Old
Lace; musicals like Show Boat, Annie Get Your Gun,
Kiss Me Kate, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and
Singing in the Rain; The Mummy; Anne Frank; A
Bridge Too Far; and stars Clark Gable, John Wayne,
James Stewart, Boris Karloff, Marilyn Monroe, Jane
Russell, Debra Kerr, Ava Gardner, and the young and
older Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney – and
all if it came with popcorn you could afford
without taking out a second mortgage on the home.
And the drive-ins! What fun! Oh, the rummaging
through nostalgia is nice, but what Ralph Waldo
Emerson said leads us to the next exploration,
“With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with
the future. I live now.”
The present is so much easier for seniors to
deal with because it is right there where they can
reach out and touch it and deal with it. At least
most of it, except the wishes and what-ifs and the
‘woulda’, ‘coulda’,
‘shoulda’ factors. You woulda changed
your life if you coulda known what you shoulda done
differently. You won’t know now anyhow. So you
might as well enjoy what you have and try not to
get stuck on the treadmill to nowhere. Or, you wish
you could lose some weight. Well, you can, it still
is now and not then and tomorrow you could be
thinner. Or, you wish you had more money. Well, you
can if you want to work for it, but that sounds
like work and not retirement. What if we had moved
to warmer climate after retirement? Maybe you still
can, if you have that extra money you may have to
work for.
Movies are still around in all the
Cineplex’s with seating for hundreds at six to
sixteen shows in one building and some open
24-hours each day. The movies are in Cinemascope,
Cinerama, about Sin-Sin and Action-Action, in 3D
that attacks you in your seat, with dozens of
actors you’ve never heard of before but will
see over and over again, and popcorn and soda and
unknown candy assortments that cost much more than
the ticket. They are a fun trip and worth it to
keep your blood flowing and almost better than
TV.
TV these days will entertain you 24-hours a day.
There’s no test pattern at midnight, and
hundreds of channels are available traveling to you
through cables and satellites for the price of
monthly admission called a bill. Movies from all
the ages as well as new ones just out of the
theaters; games shows for every age and education
level; regular programming of comedies, mysteries,
crimes, documentaries, sports, and 24-hours news.
But you know all this because it is just a few feet
in front of your lounge chair. Of course, you could
follow the advice of Groucho Marx who had a long
running show of his own, “I find television
very educating. Every time somebody turns on the
set, I go into the other room and read a
book.”
The future is a mystery that will never be
reached and never solved. It is always there in
front of you. You can make plans for it, make lists
of things to do today, layout vacation plans and
make reservations at a nice resort, and then your
plans could change because the car won’t
start, or you stub your toe and have to go to the
clinic. The future is kind of a hidden door between
now and then that you can’t open to reveal its
true identity. It’s only manifested in the
dreams we have about how it will be. “The
future ain’t what it used to be,” said
everyman’s philosopher, Yogi Berra. And for
many seniors that is very true. It used to be
thoughts of relaxation and coming down from a life
of stress and work and money worries. The only
answer is to lay back and keep the dream alive,
however possible. That sounds like work, but the
reward is bliss. But one psychologist, Wayne Dyer,
said, “Go for it now. The future is promised
to no one.”
I Hate Work
Sounds like a line Ralph Kramden, Jackie Gleason,
would say in the Honeymooners: and follow with a
belly roar Har Har Hardee Har. I know some of you
are going to think that is a crazy statement. Work
got us to where we are now: Retired, happy, a nice
home, a little income coming in, and a universe of
free time. Actually it comes down to that one
thing, a little income coming in, and toss in a
universe of free time: Time to do things and little
enough income to do them. That’s where ‘I
hate work’ enters the retirement puzzle
because a lot of happily retired citizens have to
search the blue skies and back alleys for some kind
of meager part-time employment (work) to have the
fun we dreamed about. Just remember what Albert
Camus said ‘Without work, all life goes
rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and
dies.’ If you decide you need to do this, be
careful.
Men/Women Wanted. . Man or Woman Wanted For. .
Circle and call. Circle and call. Not today, sorry!
All filled up today, call again tomorrow or when
you grow younger or own an American car. You
can’t demand. You have to request and beeeee
pleasant and have a silk suit and tie on your
tongue. A button-down brain cluttered with toothy
smiles and polished pleases. Your applications
probably are stashed in file drawers all over town
between chopped olive sandwiches and Mary Missy
Sanitary napkins. You are too experienced and that
is a negative for most of the jobs available for
your situation … retired.
A job in the ‘Lost and Found’ at the
bus depot sounds inviting. Dusty odd items stacked
and hung throughout the room: Cubbyholes and oaken
drawers with numbers and dates above brassy
handles; alphabetical hooks and shelves that circle
the room. A collector of the small things people
forget. Any retiree can do that and maybe even dig
up some old memories. You could have treasures that
people are hunting for; it’s a position of
power. No one but you can decipher the notes you
take to find that lost ring or keychain. If you get
sick and have to stay home they would have to close
down the shop. What security! What power!
Sometimes you will spend the afternoons scanning
for jobs in the HELP WANTED’S. It is something
to pass the time, so you pull out your pad and
paper from the Formica table top office and play
your own game with your own rules. WANTED: A
delivery boy who owns his own store. WANTED: Dental
Assistant. Must own a welding set. WANTED:
Dependable, trustworthy young person for a
reputable collection agency: Must own a car with
bullet-proof glass.
Then you wonder if you really want to go back to
work? Oh the pain of it all. Sometimes you
aren’t so sure. Your Social Security and
retirement checks have been enough to pay the rent
and buy the basic munchies with a clip full of
coins left over to tip a few beers. ‘Nothing
is work unless you’d rather be doing something
else,’ said Coach George Halas. That pretty
much sums it up. Most retirees would like to be
doing exactly that … doing something else and
avoiding the daily hum drum of taking on work
again. Of course, taking on a work job has some
positive sides to it but they are too few to list
here.
Happy Talk Or: The Future
Can Be Better
Oh, it’s so much fun being retired and having
the freedom to wake up when you want and to be able
to eat what you want, when you want. No more alarm
clocks, no more commutes, no more office or plant
stuff, or punching time-card stuff. The past is
there and done, and as you age into the present you
find that all the other ages are behind you, but
not lost. Experience can make the future
better.
You are talking about the future, bragging about
the past, and listening to your friends doing the
same things. You plan that trip, that project, or
the hobby you wanted to do and can do now because
you have the time to fritter away. You meet those
new friends that you never had time for before, and
you find they have the same ideas and plans and
dreams as you.
Sitting there next to a flowing river or tidal
salt sea-water shore, you say to yourself,
“that tide or river flow can take me anywhere
I want to go. They move through time so free; why
can’t that be me?”
Remember the lyrics to that old song?
‘Happy talk, Talk about things you like to
do.
You got to have a dream, If you don’t have
a dream, How you gonna have a dream come
true?’ Well, that’s a good philosophy to
follow in retirement. Have a dream and make it come
true. It’s all up to you. Optimism, hope,
confidence should be the operative words for an
in-high spirits retirement.
You worked and spent time for many years, maybe
at one job, or maybe at several, and juggled tasks
like a circus performer. They all got done and your
chest swelled with pride. Now you have just one
task; being as happy and content as you can find
the time for and can afford. You remember all the
fun and games you had in childhood, but then as the
middle ages took over your life, the work
controlled it all. Now, believe it or not, the fun
and games can be back. You can be a child again, at
heart if not in body motions, and play games and
frivol away the time. Of course, some self control
must be maintained. You can’t go out and throw
rocks at the garage door or the cat next door.
Climbing trees is out of the question and a
tricycle is too small. Riding a bike is permissible
and a healthy thing to do.
The one word and mental condition that must be
avoided is that evil spirit – boredom.
‘Perhaps the world’s second worst crime
is boredom. The first is being a bore,’ said
Sir Cecil Beaton of British fame. So it’s a
two-way street. Keeping busy things on your agenda
will eliminate boredom, but don’t overdo it
and bore others with your projects and plans.
Happiness is the goal. ‘Happiness is the
meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and
end of human existence,’ said Aristotle
several hundred years ago. Wonder if he was retired
when he said that. Happy talk is part of it, but
happy activity is the key to being content in
retirement.
Seniors with Seniors
A successful marriage requires falling in love many
times, always with the same person, said Mignon
McLaughlin an early American Journalist who lived
to be seventy. And that may be the difficulty that
has to be overcome as seniors transpose from middle
age to senior years. The old gray mate ain’t
what s/he used to be.
Keeping that other person hanging around for
much longer is becoming a problem with many
seniors. How do you go to a stag party for the
wedding celebration of a friend when she has to tag
along? How do you go to the sewing bee when he is
carrying your spool of thread? Seniors, who have
traditionally depended on a loyal mate for their
care and company, has become nearly a thing of the
past. Seniors will increasingly fend for themselves
rather than live in an unhappy relationship.
Seniors are living longer and longer and many in
their 50s and 60s are reluctant to stay the course
… that is … staying married to the same
person and being faced with the prospect of a
decade or more in an unhappy eternal bond. Over the
past several years the divorce rate for baby
boomers, most seniors, has surged by more than
fifty percent while the rest of the population has
stabilized in this function at a much lower
percentage. Of course, it is also true that the
percentage of seniors who have never married is
climbing. Many seniors are just opting out of
marriage and venturing into the world of old age by
themselves.
It’s not easy. Most unmarried seniors live
alone. And many are coming to grips with the
seclusion and problems of living alone. Many
unmarried, or recently divorced, seniors confront
economic hardships that couples don’t face.
Sometimes the income just stops after a divorce or
a death of a partner: A job, after all these years
of living off someone else or the government? Now
is the time for change and sitting around
isn’t going to change things.’ Do you
want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action
will delineate and define you’, said Thomas
Jefferson. And most seniors want to be defined as
individuals and responsible people. Life goes on
and then …
‘Now I am on my own’ many seniors
start out by saying. ‘I’ll be the life of
the party even if it lasts until 8’.
‘I’ll become very good at opening
child-proof bottles with a hammer’.
‘I’m a senior citizen and I think I am
having the time of my life, aren’t I?’
The secret is to try not thinking about being
retired or getting older. Occupy, occupy, occupy
your mind with activities and the company of
friends. You had friends when you were half of a
couple, and it’s probably a surety that those
friends are still there. You can’t completely
abandon the life you knew before. But, ‘Keep
away from people who try to belittle your
ambitions. Small people always do that, but the
really great make you feel that you, too, can
become great’ … Mark Twain.
People are living longer these days, especially
seniors, so it is best to make the best of the time
ahead, even as a single senior.
Your Inner Magnet System
(Or: Your Common Sense)
Use your common sense. You have used all the other
senses for years; you’ve heard things, seen
things, confronted things, avoided smelly things,
felt emotions, and shunned all those bad things
that have gotten you this far so far. Common sense
is that inner magnet that automatically draws you
through the decision making process, that is, the
sound and prudent judgment based on a simple
perception of the situation or facts. Voltaire once
said “Common sense is not so common.” He
was right. Oftentimes, people over-think simple
things to such an extent that they miss the
obvious. Sometimes this is due to preconceived
notions, other times it’s a simple matter of
“this question’s too simple. There’s
got to be more to it.”
You’ve slept on decisions and woke with the
answers while fresh in the morning. You’ve
made snap decisions because you had to, now!
You’ve dwelt on it, analyzed it, and it
worked, but don’t be the one who flies over
the cuckoo’s nest, sometimes you can’t
fly back.
Of course there is that large magnetosphere of
Earth which is a region in space whose shape is
determined by the Earth’s internal magnetic
field, the solar wind plasma, and the
interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). That’s a
little too big and complicated for this subject and
to fit in our body. Here we are talking about that
little glow of experience we use to draw on
everything we’ve done. A magnet is a body
having the property of attracting iron and
producing a magnetic field external to itself;
specifically … something that attracts. In
this case we want to draw on experience; draw on
the little light or spark that flashes in our brain
at times.
Ah yes, the creams that make you look younger
are so inviting; the diets that will make you live
forever, and the pill that will allow you to run a
marathon and live through it. The ideal and perfect
life is just a mouse click or phone call away. Just
remember what Mark Twain said, “A man who
carries a cat by the tail learns something he can
learn in no other way”. And I guess change is
the name of the game. Betterment is the goal.
“I want to be a better me,” is the song
in your heart; stronger, faster, prettier, younger;
more or less without breaking the original
mold.
Oh yes, it must be easy to be a senior citizen.
You just work all your life, save as much money as
you can, then quit work. It’s simple, so we
are told. There you have it in a nutshell. It
sounds easy. But there are a few other warnings and
requirements that must be added to the mix. Being a
senior citizen isn’t as easy as it seems on
the surface. You can’t just lay back and age.
Things must change for the better and for more
happiness. There’s where the decision making
process kicks in. Just how do you want to gain that
peace and happiness, grace in old age, and having a
positive impact on others through the way you
present yourself? Well, it comes down to setting
goals and making positive decisions.
And as unfortunate as it may seem, although you
personally are going to be the result of your
decisions, the final judge will be those around
you. Maybe it would be a good idea to kick around
any decisions with a close friend or relative. They
might have a different magnet to draw on, and
sometimes two magnets are better than one.
Bam, Bang, Hiss, Sizzle
Bam, Bang, Hiss, Sizzle; Stars and Stripes;
Fireworks, parades, barbeques, carnival, fairs,
picnics, concerts, baseball games, family and
friends reunions, all celebrating the history and
traditions of the U.S. and Yankee Doodle Dandy.
What a day! What a day!
It’s the best holiday of the year for some
of us; hot weather to enjoy, not like snow and cold
on Xmas, and not like rainy parades at Easter. The
4th of July is an outdoor get out in the sun for
fun celebration, and not a sit around the living
room or around a dying tree. It’s not Memorial
Day remembering those passed warriors who fell for
the defense of freedom; or Labor Day that many
regard as the end of freedom with the door slamming
shut on the summer months and good weather.
Remember as youngsters the family went together
to the local amusement park, probably called
Playland, and watched a fire works display being
shot over a small lake. That can happen again for
us with a family of old friends gathering on a
local hill watching the sky light up with joyful
celebration. You can be kids again by lighting a
few sparklers and setting off a string or two of
miniature or lady bug firecrackers in the back yard
during the barbeque. Just do it outside because
they can make the indoors a mess. Ooh!! Ahh!!
“Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be
better,” said Albert Camus the French writer.
“The basis of a democratic state is
liberty,” said Aristotle an old Greek. So you
see, this thing called freedom is older than you
and is international. That’s what we
celebrate. It’s celebrating our peace of mind
and the battles it took to get there here in the
good ole U.S.A.
And Mr. Webster defines freedom as “the
quality or state of being free as the absence of
necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or
action.” Now that doesn’t mean you can
become that grumpy old person everyone dislikes and
exercise your freedom of speech and say everything
that comes to your mind just because you can. It
also means you have the freedom to just think
it.
And then there is the sitting around the living
room or back yard after the fireworks display.
“Do you recall when? … Remember where we
used to? … Then there’s the time. …
Did you know? … Can you recall? … Do you
think we’ll ever?” The warm radiance of
the slight beverage buzz, or it could be the
ambiance of old friends calling to mind memories,
fills the room along with the faded sun and those
still hungry seeking leftovers from the barbeque.
Old friends, who hadn’t gathered for a while,
some for a year, take the weight off their feet and
relax in a comfort zone built by years of
experiences together, and slow down. The
distractions of the present are left at the door
like muddy boots. The 4th of July is more than just
about the past, it is enjoying the good times and
friends of the present.
You probably aren’t going to spend the day
talking about Paul Revere, Betsy Ross, John Adams
or Thomas Jefferson, although they were a big part
of the original festivity. More than likely you
will be talking about Pete the barber, or Joe the
bartender, or even Gigi the checkout lady at the
market, people of your generation and an important
part of the celebration of all year life.
That’s the real wham bam of freedom’s
sound.
Fun and Funny Or: Grow that
Smile
‘Did you hear the one about …’
‘Two seniors walk into a bar …’
‘Knock, knock …’ There are a million
of them; Jokes for and about seniors. That’s
OK, being a senior and maybe retired is fun and can
be funny as well. What’s the difference
between Fun and Funny? Fun is what provides
amusement or enjoyment; specifically, playful often
boisterous action or speech, that is, a mood for
finding or making amusement. Now that sounds like
real retirement.
And then there is Funny: affording light mirth
and laughter, amusing, or seeking or intended to
amuse. That is, differing from the ordinary in a
suspicious, perplexing, quaint, or eccentric way,
peculiar and often used as a sentence modifier;
it’s funny things didn’t turn out the way
we planned. Now it’s not funny if retired
living hasn’t turned out the way you planned.
Now let’s go back to the beginning:
‘Knock, knock!’ ‘Who’s
there?’ ‘Opportunity!’ …
‘Opportunity who?’ … ‘This is
Opportunity with your name and plan attached to it
to have fun in your life.’ If you didn’t
invite it in, that’s not funny.
But what do you do and how do you do it? Chances
are you’re feeling bored if you are thinking
about it in the first place. Or perhaps you’re
just having trouble thinking up ideas for new fun
activities. Start with making a feel-good fun list.
Include anything you can think of which you
typically enjoy. This might be playing with a pet,
watching a football game, sleeping, taking part in
an outdoor sport, chatting with a friend, listening
to some of your favorite music or a meal out in a
favorite restaurant. Dream up as many different
things as you can that will make you smile and
write them all down.
Maybe taking a new hobby should be on the list.
Maybe taking singing lessons, or that watercolor
painting or jewelry making class they give down at
the senior center. Maybe you always wanted to go
bowling or play golf but never had the time. You do
now! Or maybe you already do something you enjoy,
and now you can do more of it. There are so many
things to do and you can find by just flipping
through the yellow pages, the Sunday paper
entertainment section, or cruising through the
internet.
‘Two seniors walk into a bar. What did you
do today? Nothing! And what did you do today?
Nothing! Got any ideas? Let’s talk about
it.’ It doesn’t hurt to ask others what
they do for fun. And then the fun starts. Maybe you
and your friend, or friends, can share an
opportunity to have fun. You may all be in the same
boat and it is time for everyone to grab an
oar.
When going through your list be sure to take
into account all activities which are unlikely to
have negative consequences and favor them; asking
yourself a few questions. ‘Can I (we) afford
to regularly do this activity?’ ‘Will it
offend others?’ ‘How soon can I (we)
start?’ ‘Am I (we) likely to enjoy
it?’
Fun, of course, is relative to a mix of many
things: finances, health and physical being,
geography, friends and relatives, transportation,
and of course, attitude. And being grumpy of course
is being moodily cross, menacing or threatening in
appearance, and that is the opposite of having fun.
To have fun is to have a little bit of a positive
attitude, not a grumpy one. It is time to grow that
smile and be funny to have fun.
Did you hear the one about the group of seniors
who went river rafting and their punch line was
‘Boy that was fun!’
©2012, Patrick
Kennedy
* * *
Man arrives as a novice at each age of his life.
- Nicolas Chamfort
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