Staying Energetic Through Retirement

My grandfather started dying they day he retired.

He’d been an active man, active all his life. He had helped his dad homestead as a kid, been in the Navy for WWI, and worked as a mechanic, carpenter, and miner during his adult life. He and grandma hunted and fished on weekends and for vacation. He was an energetic man.

Then he retired. They continued to hunt and fish occasionally. I don’t know what he thought retirement was for, but he used it for sitting around, doing mostly nothing. And I think that killed him — though it took 20 years.

So, how is it my parents are living longer than their parents? How are the “seniors” in your life living longer? Energy. The answer is how they spend their time and live their lives.

It’s my intention to live a very long time. My dad has already outlived his dad by 12 years, so I figure I can beat even that longevity. That means I have to plan ahead and live a healthy life now. I have to mind my energy. I have to spend my time wisely. Not coincidentally how I spend my time impacts my energy, and vice versa. If I do all that now I greatly increase my chances of living a long, vibrant life.

When I talk about how you spend your time impacts how you age, you may wonder about that connection. Let’s talk about it.

When you stay active — mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically — you keep your brain engaged in diverse ways and that effectively slows time. When time is slowed by being active, you age more slowly. When you slow down, time effectively speeds up, and you age more quickly.

Staying active keeps your mind and body more agile, stronger, and more resilient. Becoming inactive allows your mind and body to lose agility, weaken, and become rigid.

Retiring doesn’t mean stop. Retiring means do things you didn’t have time to do before. Aging doesn’t mean slow down. Aging means fewer responsibilities and more fun!

Eating a nutritious, balanced diet keeps you strong. Hydrating keeps your body healthier because toxins are washed away and nutrients and oxygen are moved to all areas of your body. Sleeping well keeps your body rejuvenating on a regular basis. Those are elements of aging slowly that most people adhere to.

The biggest difference I see in what “most people” do and what truly vibrant, older people do is having a goal, or a purpose in life. This is how we stay young — we contribute to the world. Working is one way of contributing. Are you making time for your hobbies, for service to others, for socializing? Today is a good day to start that kind of contribution and activity.

If you can develop the habit of contributing to the world in diverse ways now, as you age and when you retire you’ll experience fewer changes to your lifestyle. Change is stressful and that creates mental and physical health issues for many people. The less you change in your life the less stress you’ll experience as you age and when you retire.

Another element of staying young is learning new things — every day. Your hobby can be a source of daily education. Taking classes and working puzzles are great ways of learning. Combine physical activity with learning and you can find yourself learning a new dance or yoga move, improving your golf or tennis swing, or even learning a new hobby or skill.

Staying busy keeps fun in your life, and that keeps time moving slowly. Slow moving time means aging slowly. So, staying busy lets you age more slowly.

My grandfather didn’t have hobbies beyond hunting and fishing, he didn’t serve others, and he didn’t socialize. When he retired he had nothing to fill his time or thoughts. He lost his purpose. He didn’t have any goals to drive him or perk him up. It seems to me, as a young, outside observer, that he didn’t have fun, and he aged more quickly. In my book, he died young.

You can avoid that with a little pre-planning. Take charge of your life now. Go beyond the “normal” ways of staying healthy and young by expanding your activities.