So, as explained in the previous blog, most of us face almost a quarter of a lifetime in retirement and governments have failed to address this unique and massive change in the demographic. What are the issues that could be addressed in the form of special policies? Firstly let’s think about finance. How can a lengthy retirement be sustained financially? Unless you have a private income the two main sources are the old age pension and superannuation. Both are already in the hands of governments and we hope will be continually monitored for their ability to sustain a reasonable level of support. However, if you have little or no superannuation, you are single and if you live in a rental property you would be hard pressed to survive on the old age pension. Poverty is a serious problem at any age but especially so when you are past earning a wage and cannot afford to both pay the rent and buy food, and a retirement home is beyond your means. Governments need to monitor senior citizens and ensure they don’t slip into poverty.

A comfortable retirement is seen as a right to be enjoyed after a lifetime of work. But as in most democratic societies, rights usually come with responsibilities. Both have yet to be explored by governments and identified and accepted by society at large.

Next health. We have the right in retirement to take advantage of the Public health system. And ill health is likely to affect all of us at some stage as we age. Yes, we have paid taxes during our working years and previously, for most of us, had little cause to call on the services of doctors and hospitals. So what is the other side of the coin to our right to access the health services? Obviously it is the responsibility to keep as healthy as possible. So, in retirement, we need to exercise regularly and to eat a healthy diet. And to reiterate what I have blogged on before, this should include looking after the colon. Good nutrition is more than a balanced diet which includes protein, carbohydrates and vitamins, the colon biome needs regular attention. My book: Cultivate your colon addresses this aspect of good health.

More later!

I have been writing and talking about retirement for over ten years and not much has happened politically during this time. Governments have been content to continue handing out pensions and collecting superannuation levies from those still working. There has been much soul-searching over the inadequacies of retirement homes and the recent Royal Commission in Australia has produced a massive report on the issues and made substantial recommendations to improve the experiences of the aged and frail who occupy these establishments. It is to be hoped that the necessary changes are made and that they are maintained. But as many of the retirement ‘homes’ are owned and run by private companies it is likely that the drive to produce a profit will win out over the need for worthwhile change.

All the debate and anguish over the plight of the occupants of the retirement homes, the demand for more such places and the annual political argument over what is an adequate old- age pension and the size of the superannuation levy, ignore the underlying issue – the year-on-year steady increase in the percentage of the population who are retired. This a new situation. Previously, in developed countries, the gap between stopping work and death, was relatively short, and mostly less than 10 years. The retired demographic has changed remarkably in the past half century so that most of us can look forward to living a further quarter of our lifetime after finishing work. Western governments have yet to acknowledge and come to terms with this major change in society. Compare this change with what would have happened if there had been an equivalent extension in the length of childhood!

There are many aspects involved in the change to the length of retirement apart from the provision of adequate care for the frail and infirm. Most retired people are in good health and the question is: how should, or could, they be occupied during this long time? This is not being addressed or even considered by governments. It should not be left to voluntary organisations or cruise companies, this situation needs the development of appropriate and clear policies.

My blog uses the word renaissance, meaning rebirth, to describe my view of retirement. The word retirement, to me, sounds dreary and implies withdrawing from life, whereas as you will gather from previous blogs, I regard this period of life as the time to relive. There are lots of other ‘re’ words which would also be more appropriate, such as renew, refresh, review and revive.

One word which I think should contribute to every retirement is rediscovery. The pressures of work and a career, and the responsibilities involved in raising a family, inevitably result in a contraction of one’s activities and interests. Daily life tends to become routine and constricted to what is possible and convenient. It is difficult to launch into new ventures or explore new areas of interest before retirement; your obligations get in the way.

So, in retirement, having shed all those obligations and abandoned the routine activities, you are free to be yourself, to rediscover all those thwarted interests and unfulfilled ambitions. Let your retirement be a voyage of discovery: I have always wanted to…. I would like to to take up ??? again. Whatever happened to that organisation/club/group I used to belong to?

Retirement is the time to restart a full and rewarding life; to explore aspects of oneself which have been neglected, maybe even unrecognised; to make new acquaintances; explore new areas of the country; to learn and to experiment. Retirement should be the start of a new life. There’s plenty of life ahead waiting to be lived to the full. Go for it!

There are lots of ways to view retirement – as a new start in life, as a rebirth, or just time to reschedule one’s usual activities. Whatever the viewpoint, and whether or not you want to change your way of life, it is a crossroads in living and choices have to be made. Of course it would be easier to drift into retirement and hope everything will work out, but that approach fails to take advantage of the many opportunities provided by being retired.

There is an old saying: As one door closes another one opens, and this may provide the best approach to thinking about retirement. Your next phase of life will be different from the previous, which means new goals, new behaviours, new attitudes, new opportunities and probably, because of the new circumstances, the making of new friends and a changed relationship with your family.

When you were a teenager, you probably viewed your future life with excitement: What will I learn?; Where will I live?; What job will I do?; What friends will I make?; What new experiences will I have?, and so on. Moving as a youth into adult life is a transition needing major changes in all aspects of living. Retirement is no different. With good luck and reasonable health you have a quarter of your life ahead of you, it is essential to make the most of it.

So as one door closes, don’t look behind, but see the opening and step through it with excitement and enthusiasm. There’s a great new world out there to be explored. After a lifetime of work and raising a family, you deserve it.

No, I am not a psychologist or psychiatrist, just someone who retired 15 years ago and is keen to help others organise a happy and productive retirement. From my experience, and from talking to others, there are four areas that the retired person needs to pay attention to: purpose, isolation, stimulus and control.

Work and rearing a family provide two vital purposes for living, but by the time of retirement both have usually disappeared. So the retired person has to find a new purpose or purposes. For some this proves hard and the temptation is to cling to the past, manifesting as working part-time and /or looking after grandchildren. But these solutions are only temporary – part-time jobs are precarious, and children soon grow up and are off to school. So retirement involves some important decisions. Previous blogs have included a few suggestions but, whatever new ventures you are involved in, aim for personal development and satisfaction. You may also wish to contribute to your community.

Lack of a clear purpose in retirement can lead to isolation – there are no workmates any more to talk to, there is no need to travel to an office, and perhaps no need to go outdoors at all except for shopping. The children have grown up, often moved far away, and are busy with their own lives. Unless you make the effort to take up new interests and make new friends, the isolation will intensify and your mental health will suffer. To break out of your isolation will require some effort and perhaps a little courage, especially if it requires you meeting new people and being in unfamiliar surroundings. But Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

The best stimulus in retirement is provided by new ventures. The temptation is to continue with previous interests as in:’ I am going to spend my retirement just fishing‘ or ‘Going to more movies’ or ‘Cooking’. A healthy human brain needs stimulation and challenge no matter what age, Same old, same old is a recipe for isolation and even dementia.

Any change demands control. Control over your attitude, behaviour and aspirations. This is not the time to hand over control of one’s life to family or close friends. They want you to continue being the same old you. Retirement demands a new start in life, with new goals, ideas and opportunities. Grab them all with both hands! Being retired is similar to when you were a teenager and the world was ready for you to discover. Don’t retire, relive!

So I hope you now aim to strengthen your legs and arms, flex your back and maintain your balance. What now? Well, you could help your skin retain some of its youthful vitality. To do this you may need to discard habits of a lifetime. A lifetime of washing with aggressive soaps and shampoos that are designed to remove the natural skin secretions. Pharmacies are agents of contradiction – they sell soaps and other concoctions designed to remove dirt along with the substances produced by the skin, then offer various other expensive products which claim to replace the lost secretions! My question is, why remove skin secretions, which have evolved to protect the skin from drying out, preventing infection and healing damage, then replace them with expensive emollients? All you need to do to keep clean and socially acceptable is shower with warm water. This removes any dirt along with any odour.

Now to move inside. There is little point in me giving advice on the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and, perhaps, other toxic substances; you have heard it all before and made up your minds a long time ago. But there is one internal matter which I have mentioned previously (probably too many times!) but which is important and could save your life. The need to look after your colon. Why? Because too many people suffer and many die from diseases of the colon. The critical lesson here is that this organ contains a multitude of different species of bacteria; that these bacteria have evolved, during the aeons while we have evolved, to feast on the remnants of our foods which are not digested in the small intestine. We are not individual animals separate from the rest of Nature, but we are in partnership with a plethora of bacteria which live within us. And, because it is a mutual partnership, we need to look after our partners and ensure they are well fed. In turn they supply us with a variety of substances which not only keep the colon healthy but which are absorbed into the blood and are important in human health. The role of the colon bacteria in maintaining our health has yet to be fully investigated. This is a big topic and I have written in blogs before about the nutritional needs of the colon bacteria and elsewhere (Cultivate your Colon. Henry Collins, Self-published 2011). Suffice to say: To keep your colon healthy, feed your bacteria well! Next time some notes on mental health.

An essential ingredient in a successful retirement is good health. However, I am not proposing to take over as your medical advisor, after all I am a vet not a doctor! Although there is value in remembering that we are basically animals (see my other blog: avetsview.co). All I want to do is point out some aspects of health which I think are especially important for older citizens, and suggest how they could be maintained. Some of these suggestions have been mentioned before in other blogs, but they are still valid.

Maintaining one’s strength is important for living a long life. So it is important to perform regular strengthening exercises. These are necessary for the legs, back and upper body. But this does not mean having to join a gym and buy a lycra bodysuit. The legs are strengthened by regular walking, fast if possible, and including some hills. I also go to a local pool a few times a week and walk in the water (not ON, unless you have achieved divine status!), both forwards and backwards and also sideways. Swimming does little for the strength of the legs. Strong legs will help keep you upright, and strong leg muscles are important in returning blood to the heart.

The strength of the arms and shoulders can be maintained by exercising with hand weights – starting with small weights and progressing to, say, 3 kilos. Maintain good flexion in the back muscles and an upright posture by doing the Down Dog and Cat exercises from the Yoga repertoire (If you are not familiar with them borrow a Yoga book from your local library). It is also important to exercise the neck muscles and ensure your neck joints are free, so that you can turn your head easily. As you will know, being able to look backwards when driving out onto a road or at a junction, is essential for your safety.

There is another aspect of health which came to my attention recently. The ability to maintain our balance tends to decrease as one ages. Apparently, this is managed by the brain and unless the reflex pathways are not strengthened regularly, they deteriorate. Too much sitting doesn’t help. The answer is to check and strengthen these reflexes by walking along a straight line with one foot following immediately in front of the other. Also walk sideways along a line, with one foot crossing over the other. If, for various reasons, you are already at risk from falling when you walk, the best way to keep safe is to invest in a pair of walking poles, such as you might use when walking in rough country. Then you will have 4 ‘legs’, not just 2. 4-legged animals such as sheep or cattle are more stable than we bipeds. More next time!

Or perhaps you are already occupied singing, painting and/or writing (see previous blogs), and it is not enough. If so, there are a myriad of opportunities yet to be explored! Firstly, you need to decide whether you prefer to do things on our own, or with a friend, or in a group. Do you prefer to concentrate on a task without disturbance; do you like working with another; or does your motivation increase when there are many others around? Here’s a few suggestions:

On your own How about studying a topic which you noted as of interest in the past, but didn’t have the time for,such as identifying birds, butterflies, trees or wild flowers. You too can become an expert! What do you know about Geology, History, Foreign affairs, Aboriginal culture, gardening, and wood carving? How about writing your family history? How about learning to mentor young people? How about seeking others of your age who are lonely and would welcome some company?

With another How about getting together with someone else to write songs, explore and record the history of your town, rebuild an antique car, learn to rock climb, start a club, go fishing, learn to water ski, take up bush walking, and so on.

In a group There are plenty of associations which welcome newcomers, including women’s and men’s sheds, charity shops, art groups, walking groups, discussion groups, political groups, writing groups, book groups, film groups and so on. And, of course there are many daytime and evening classes on numerous topics run by community colleges, U3A, the YMCA, Schools of the Arts, Universities, TAFE, etc. There is no reason to be lonely or bored!

Perhaps you are not certain about which way to go. It’s time for some self-analysis. Try answering the following questions which may fire your imagination:

1. Which topics do you concentrate on in your local newspaper?
2. Which TV shows do you watch and what are they about – documentaries, politics, books, art, history, archaeology, etc
3. If you had the opportunity what subjects would you study at TAFE or university?
4. Which speakers and topics do you listen to on the radio, or the media?
5. What types of books do you read?
6. If someone gave you an expensive present, which you could choose, what would it be – a camera, binoculars, toolkit, drone, gardening tools, art materials, 4-wheel drive, sailboat, travel grant, on-line course, exotic plants, helicopter flight, antique sports car, other?

It’s time to let your imagination run, and start a new episode in your life. Good luck!

Perhaps you’re a poet and don’t know it! Even if not, you should know you can have a lot of fun with words. Individually, they are pictures, colours and movements, and together they can create moods, feelings and messages. Even a few words can evoke memories and emotions. Take for example, an haiku. This is a non-rhyming poem (with a Japanese origin) comprised of only 3 lines and 17 syllables: Line1 has 2 syllables, Line 2 has 10 and Line 3 has 5. Let’s write an haiku.

The first and only ingredients are words. I am suggesting we write an haiku about a feather, so we need as many words as we can think of related to the topic: feather, frond, bird, soft, gentle, strong, beat, wing, fly, flight, soar, glide, colour, wind, air, harmony, etc.

The first line (2 syllables) is already chosen – feather. The third needs words to make 5 syllables, so perhaps in strong harmony The second needs words which together make up 10 syllables, so perhaps: gentle alone, but together we soar. So the whole haiku becomes: Feather// gentle alone, but together we soar// in strong harmony. Obviously, there are lots of other ways in which these words could be put together, and different words could be used. It’s a bit like putting together the pieces of a jigsaw – and equally satisfying. And notice the underlying message that has come through when the words are together in the haiku.

And now longer poems. The process can be much the same – collecting together words around a subject and allocating them to lines. Much poetry is written with lines of different length, there are no rules apart from creating phrases that flow easily and by using words that fit well together. What about rhyming?, you say. Identify words which rhyme when you have made your word collection and before stringing them together in sentences. So, using the same topic as before, we could have: feather/together, fly/high, flight/night, soar/more, glide/ride, air/share and so on. And when you run out of ideas, there are rhyming dictionaries!

The same process can be used to write lyrics for songs, which you will want to sing after reading the previous blogs (It’s time to sing, etc)!

Where do all those novelists get their ideas? From the same place which you could use to write stories – your imagination. Please don’t tell me you lack imagination, it’s an integral part of being human. Why is that person behaving in that way? Where has he/she gone away, and for so long? What a crazy thing to say, I wonder why? What will happen if I…..? How can I tell him/her without hurting their feelings? Why is the bus late? What made that noise? And so on. Imagination fills in the gaps in our everyday experience. And relating our experiences in the form of stories takes up much of our conversations with friends. “You won’t believe, it but when I went to see who was at the front door…….” Even the news is presented as stories.

So apply your imagination to the following situations and see how easy it is to create stories:

The schoolboy walked slowly and reluctantly to the Principal’s office. He knocks on the door. “Come in”, she says. ?????

She first met him on the way up to her studio. He had come rushing down the stairs looking very angry and brushed past her with only a brief “sorry’. Later he was in the coffee shop next door. ?????

“Now what do I do“, he thought, as the big black dog slowly approached. Was this the right time to talk to the neighbour? ????

She saw the old woman drop the letter to the ground. Was it deliberate or an accident? Should she pick it up and give it back? ????

These are events or situations, but there could be a history that precedes them and a future ahead. It’s your job as a story teller to create the context. Ask questions and use your imagination: Who is he? Why is she there? What happened before? What will happen next? What emotions or feelings are involved? Is this event funny or sad or dangerous?

The ingredients for a story can be very basic. The classic is Boy meets girl. How about creating a story from: Man looks for horse, or She threw away the clock or The child sat down and cried or His mother rang him at midnight.

Just close your eyes and let your imagination run riot. Then don’t forget to write down what you have discovered! Who knows, you may end up with a best seller!