Living your retirement vision

By Joan Zaretsky

Recently I observed a PreRetirement Seminar which was offered by RTAM to our future members. This brought back memories of when I decided to retire twelve years ago. I was honored by the Manitoba Teachers Society with the presentation of an Honorary Lifetime Membership. For my speech, I chose not to bore people with the many activities and events I had enjoyed in my teaching career. I decided to instead offer them some tips for their retirement journey based on my vision of how I planned to spend my retirement in my future.

When you decided to retire, how did you envision your retirement? What did you hope to do or how did you see your life changing? Did you set any goals? Below are the strategies I proposed to the AGM body at the time of my retirement taken from my speech I had prepared.

” These are my “Six Strategies for a Retirement and Life of Personal Fulfillment”:

1. Develop your “must” list for your life and for your retirement. Write it down. List all the things you haven’t done yet in your life but have always dreamed of doing. Visualize what they will look like. Never lose your ability to dream. Dream big. Set outrageous goals for yourself. My newest goal is to write a book. What’s on your “must” list?

2. Get started now. Start putting the building blocks into place today so that the task is not too overwhelming at one time. Riddle: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. For my book, I plan on writing small sections at a time and combining them to develop my complete story. Take that first bite today.

3. Challenge your knowledge and skills every day. Do one new thing every day/ week - something you have never done before. This keeps your mind in gear rather than seizing up with inactivity.

4. Get up fast when you get knocked down. Life doesn’t always go your way –challenges are what make us stronger. I had seven job interviews in 1999 for different positions across Canada before I accepted the MTS Staff Officer position. Each interview better prepared me for the next one. Mother Theresa stated “God never gives you more than that with which you are capable of handling”. Can you change the negative of a challenge into a positive? Can you find the funny part of a situation? I can often be caught saying, “This too shall pass!” or “Everything works outs in the end!” and it does!

5. Make others feel appreciated for their talents and what they have to offer the world. Express gratitude for the support that others show you. If you truly live a life of service, others will be there when you need help and support. Receive their help with dignity and grace. This can be hard for many of us, as teachers tend to be true caregivers. Be humble as a care-receiver.

My underlying philosophy of my life is reflected in the words of Winston Churchill – “We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.” Being of service to others involves giving of your time, talents or finances unconditionally and without expectation of reward or return. It is a lifestyle we live and a heartfelt feeling we experience. A person living a life of service is committed to making the world a better place. Life is all about choices and we can live it with our glass half full or we can live life with our glass overflowing. It is our choice.

6. Take care of yourself. No one else will. Being of service involves giving to yourself. If you do not take care of yourself, you will reach a point where you cannot help others. Read those food labels to ensure you get high protein and fibre and low sugar, fat and salt. Go to the spa or the gym. Start that dance class. Play baseball or pickleball, go bowling or cross-country skiing or any type of activity which you enjoy doing which keeps your body tuned.

In conclusion, in retirement your time is your time, and it is wonderful to be able to do what you want to do. Carole Wylie, a former Staff Officer, advised me to try to schedule at least one day a week with nothing planned so you can sleep in and enjoy being around home.

A word of caution: As a teacher with your skills, you may find you have to learn to say “No” to the requests you may receive to sit on volunteer boards or become involved in organizations. Choose carefully those you are passionate about.”

As I look back on that speech after my 12 years of retirement, I have followed some of my tips better than others. I have just completed the writing of my book which will be published in the upcoming months. I am still learning to say “No” and struggling to save that one day a week to just relax and get caught up on things at home.

How about you? Are you living your retirement dreams? I applaud you if you are. If not, why not? What can you be doing to fulfill the retirement visions you had during your teaching career? Take some time to reflect on your dreams. If they are still relevant, take the steps to support their fulfillment! If they have changed, go with your newest dreams. Make your retirement a time of being “the best you” which you can possibly be!