Retirement is often seen as a period of status quo. It’s time when your life purpose is behind you a period viewed as a gradual slowing down before your eventual flat line. How dreadful!! In other words, a sort of waiting room phase. Societal thinking and norms about this phase of life is not commonly seen as a time to reinvent yourself or your life.
Retiring in the USA
In the USA older people are often seen as potential burdens with their “productive years” behind them. The ads on TV are busy selling pharmaceuticals for the seniors. Promoting wellbeing with the understood message that us seniors are on a path of decline. There is absolutely a change in our metabolism as we age. We will and can encounter health issues as our body is aging. However, there are many ways we can maintain our health, socially, physically and mentally. This pervasive message of age discrimination due to inaccurate negative stereotypes can be common in the USA. There is an ideology of social and cultural exclusion.
A different retirement
Seniors in Europe are seen as very valued citizens and are placed on a pedestal of wisdom and respect. Seniors are viewed as still active and a valuable part of the fabric of society. This thinking is not exclusive to Europe. In other cultures the elderly are referred to as Elders not as elderly. They are very much respected and sought after for their wisdom rather than burdens. This blog is not political or about making judgements about the beliefs of others. I am just reflecting on different cultural beliefs.
Well, I am here to rejiggle and rejog your long-forgotten desires and sense of adventure and to share my approach and outlook of this amazing new chapter.
My view on age is that age is indeed a state of mind. I have adopted the weather app approach in regard to my age. The weather app reports the actual temperature for the day. If you scroll further down, there is the “real feel” temperature. I like to refer to my age as how I actually feel. And you know what, most of the days I feel much younger than said age. But I certainly do have some days that I feel older. Thankfully, those are few and far between.
One can age but you do not need to get old!
-Soraya
Want to read more about my retirement journey? Find out more here About