Retiring with Intention

A lot of people retire with the attitude that they will take each day as it comes, that they will live “one day at a time”.  “One Day at a Time” was a great title for a television show in the 1970’s and 80’s but is it really a good strategy for living your life in retirement?   

In truth, all any of us can do is to live “one day at a time”.  All any of us have is today.  We can’t go back in time and change the events of yesterday and we can’t live tomorrow, today.  We can only live our life in this moment.  But one thing we can do is to give this moment of time some direction. 

Your retirement is offering you a world of potential.  You have the opportunity to experience a retirement that is unique, enjoyable, adventurous, meaningful, and true to your heart.  Why not give your retirement the direction it requires so that you can experience this kind of retirement?  Why not live your life in retirement with the intention that you will draw out and realize the potential that is being offered?

When you live your life in retirement with this intention, you give yourself a point of reference by which to live each day.  When you wake up in the morning, you recognize that the day ahead of you has value and that it is up to you to draw that value from the day.  You know that it is up to you to create the experiences that will make your retirement unique, enjoyable, adventurous, meaningful, and true to your heart.  And during times of trouble and grief, having this intention will help you to reset your sail so that you can get back to living the kind of retirement you deserve.

The desire to experience a retirement that is unique, enjoyable, adventurous, meaningful, and true to your heart requires focus and discipline.  You will have to resist the urgings of your friends to “go with the flow” and to “take it easy”.  You will have to ignore the temptation to take the path of least resistance and to settle, essentially, for a retirement by default.

When you reach the age of 85 and you look back over your retirement, what do you want to be able to tell people when they ask you how your retirement has been?  What is that you want to be able to fondly remember?  Then live your life in retirement according to that intention.  Because as John C. Maxwell once said, “You can spend your life any way you want but you can spend it only once”.