There Ain’t No “Tired” In Retirement

Pretty clever, right? Tired in retirement? Do you see what I did there with that play on words?  Who says the old man has lost all of his game?

And, an old man I am, at least chronologically, 73 years and counting, born October 13, 1948, color me shocked.

And, my wife, my partner in crime, Bev, is sixty-two, no doubt about it with her birth certificate as proof, but I swear, the woman can’t be a day over thirty with the energy she displays on a daily basis.

Now, before I go any further, please allow me to make a disclaimer: I am fully aware that there are many people who are simply not capable to doing what I am going to suggest doing in this article.  There are many who suffer from heart disease, or arthritis, or some other chronic illness, and I am terribly sorry for you if you are among that group.  But, for the rest of you, those of you dipping your toes into your fifties, your sixties, seventies and beyond, with no real physical obstacles other than tight muscles and sore ligaments, well, this one’s for you!

This one is about the wonders of life awaiting us all.

The genesis of this article

I was watching an ad on television the other day for a new show which just debuted . . . The Real Housewives of Dubai . . . and I sat in stunned silence as I watched the trailer for that show.  It was so far removed from my reality, from my life, as to seem alien in nature.  And I wondered, honest to God, how anyone could sit, transfixed, and watch it for thirty minutes or an hour?  Mind you, I’m not making judgements when I ask that question. I simply don’t understand how it can be called entertainment.

As many of you know, I have two dogs, Toby and Maggie, and each night they play a modified version of the old game Tug of War.  Now that’s entertainment to this old man.  And every day I take those two dogs on walks around the neighborhood.  Now that’s entertainment to this old man.  And watching fawns follow their mother across a field, or watching squirrels chase each other from tree limb to tree limb, now that’s entertainment to this old man.  But The Real Housewives of Dubai?

I think not!  The Real Housewives of Dubai will not improve my quality of life one iota.

Memories from childhood

My dad was beat down, physically exhausted, by the time of his death at fifty.  My mother basically put on the breaks, after my dad’s death, and did very little other than watch television until she died at eighty.  My grandparents were the same way, old before their time, and evidently satisfied with the accelerated aging because I saw no effort, on their part, to change their lifestyles.

Again, no judgements, but seeing those things, at a young age, had a profound effect on me.

I’m not afraid of dying, but I am afraid of not living, and that right there is the reason why Bev and I are making so many plans for travel adventures usually reserved for people much younger.  We are simply trying to squeeze as much living as possible out of the years we have remaining.

Do my muscles hurt as I pound them into shape? You bet they do. It would be easy to call it quits with the yoga and exercises, but I won’t allow that to happen, because I have places to go to, people to talk to, and amazing sites to witness.

Everyone has their own pace

I understand this fact, and it’s why I continually say I’m not judging or preaching. I’m simply giving you my reasons for undertaking what I am about to undertake.  To some, gardening is a grand adventure, and I think that’s wonderful. To others, taking a car trip into the countryside is a grand adventure, and I think that, too, is wonderful.

But, The Real Housewives of Dubai?

Seriously?

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