My Manifesto for a Full, Active Retirement

I may have mentioned a few times that I'm a Gretchen Rubin fan. I often feel guilty spending my reading / listening cycles focused on things that might make my life better and richer (instead of listening to the news), but I can only take so much (bad! depressing!) news. As part of the "know yourself better" theme, Gretchen advocates writing a manifesto about something. So I gave it a whirl last fall. So far, it seems to be withstanding the test of time... at least of 9 months of time. So here it is:

1 Savor the joys of being a grandparent. Strive to be a regular part of our grandchildren's lives on both ordinary days and special occasions.

2 Bask in the friendship, experiences, and challenges of our adult children and their partners. Provide appropriate support (time, money, advice) to make their lives easier.

3 Delight in my marriage and our good fortune that we have arrived at this stage of life with similar goals and interests.

4 Journey to as much of the world as possible, as a traveler, not a tourist.

5 Read, listen to, or watch something every day that stretches my mind.

6 Practice yoga regularly to keep my body and my mind flexible.

7 Move my body regularly doing things that I enjoy like a brisk walk in the sunshine.

8 Eat a healthy diet and maintain an acceptable weight. It's good for my quality of life and my mental well-being.

9 Achieve a balance between battling the effects of aging and accepting that I'm getting older.

10 Do meaningful volunteer work.

11 Nurture friendships.

12 Play the piano often.

13 Write regularly.



14 Be flexible and enjoy the opportunity to live without a rigid schedule or "to do" list.

15 Be structured enough so I don't fritter away my time on meaningless activities.

16 Treasure every day as a gift.