Seventy-Two

Today I reach the end of my seventy-second year and begin my seventy-third. My best friend and lover sleeps. I habitually write.

My Pop was this age when I was twelve. That’s right. Pop was sixty when I was born. In today’s coronavirus world, he and I could be sacrificed for the survival of younger generations. Times have not only changed, but there is also now a paradigm shift like none other in recent history.

Examining the past to find direction for the future seems to fail to provide answers today. There are those who dwell on the past as if repeatedly revisiting it will somehow bring solace to their anxiety of fear of failure and loss. Especially, in times of crisis, MY go-to for peace of mind is hope for the future and gratitude for the present. How else can you leave the woodpile higher than the way you found it?

I enjoy having huge, scary goals. Especially the ones when I hear some parenting message in my head asking sarcastically, what makes you think you can do that, kind of goals. Putting my focus on where I am headed not only gives me a path to follow, it examples for others the confidence they need to define their vision for their future. As is often announced by elders, be the example you want to see in the world.

Which brings me to this incredible day. Grateful, I am, for having my health, being safe, loved and in love, and other than some inconveniences, having the best days of my life so far.

Indeed, this comes with some reflection and evaluation of the present moment. My last sibling brother passed very recently. My only child was taken by Cystic Fibrosis a couple of years back. That puts this birthday as somewhat special for the memory banks. No immediate family member will ever call to wish me a happy birthday. This is not a lament, simply an observation. By now, I have folks from far off continents remembering and sending birthday greetings out of love and respect, rather than obligation.

Happiness can be so relative. Mostly, the word is associated with an event that brought some feelings of bliss. But how often have you been able to say day after day, I am the happiest I have been in my life? For me, living the dream is not a trite message of contraire. Several times each day I find myself requesting a cosmic pinch to question my reality.

Before you find yourself muttering, lucky you, I remind you of a line by the Rock in a recent movie. His childhood friend remarked that he had been much less physically fit in high school and asked how he had gotten so buff. His answer: I worked out 6 hours a day, seven days a week, for the last thirty years. As we all learn in life, it goes Dream, Struggle, Prize and the Struggles provide the contrast needed to verily give contentment to the prize.

As the world resolves the latest crisis, a previous world will slip into repeated sound bites. Rapid change is inevitable. Bills Gates book 1999, Business at the Speed of Thought comes to mind. The elders who have learned to embrace accelerated change may be the thought leaders of today and as well, the encouragers for the current arriving generation.

Be safe and responsible for yourself and others.

Happy Birthday to me! Seventy-two successful trips around the sun.

Your friend in life.

Weekly 5-Outtakes May 18 2017

Weekly 5-Outtakes

Hack for finding like-minded baby boomers online:
Baby boomers have more than just found social media, they have taken it over to meet their needs. I read recently that social interaction online has rewarded those who are givers. Finding groups to gain a feeling of belonging and ability to be heard and entertained is the norm.
Here are a few Groups that have caught my eye recently on Facebook.

Baby Boomers Rock (A National Movement)
Do You Remember?
Fashion Over Fifty
Boomer Memories
Growth.com
Baby Boomer Lives

Book I am reading;
Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brené Brown
“When we own our stories, we avoid being trapped as characters in stories someone else is telling.”
Neuroeconomist Paul Zak has found that hearing a story— a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end— causes our brains to release cortisol and oxytocin. These chemicals trigger the uniquely human abilities to connect, empathize, and make meaning. Storytelling is literally in our DNA.

Affirmation that I say daily:
I have an abundance of energy! I have an abundance of energy! I have an abundance of energy!
I attract energy into my life! I attract energy into my life! I attract energy into my life!

What is your Pretirement Plan?
The New Retirement = Pretirement
Baby Boomers have redesigned ever aspect of their lives over the last 60+ years. They have no intention of keeping their hands off the new extended lifespan being termed Pretirement. Boomers are still looking for the same adventurous lifestyle that led to the YUPID term of the 70’s through the 90’s. Young, Urban, Professionals, In Debt. Man were we yupid. Baby boomer life expectancy is surpassing 84 years. That’s the average. Many will live longer and will require the finances to continue their “if it feels good, do it” lifestyle. These are exciting times we live in.

Best Flip board article of the week
Here’s The Down-Low On Down-Sizing
By Melissa Reed, HuffPost Contributor.
Baby boomers are creating their minimal-list. What things have you found difficult to give up?

Announcing Boomer to Zoomer Virtual Suite

Welcome to the opening of the Boomer to Zoomer virtual studio. We will present podcast and webcast interviews, along with modules to inspire and inform, with thought leaders from around the world. Discussions will cover topics that matter to baby boomers who are developing new careers and creating adventures with renascent passion.
If you have a new-direction-in-life story that needs to be told, I want to hear about it.

Best-Selling Author James Wm Frank

It is an honor to earn the coveted recognition of being termed a Best-Selling Author. Wich means third party endorsement will allow me to continue and expand the focus on the successes of the baby boomer cohort. If you have a renewed passion in a new area of your life, I want to hear about it.

Boomer to Zoomer is collecting the life stories of change agents in their mature years. The wisdom and experiences are critical to our future. There will be seventy-three million people over sixty-five by 2020. The loss of corporate and social wisdom is already be seen as retirees leave the workforce and take their know-how with them.

Help me leave the woodpile higher than we found it. Send me your story to be part of the forthcoming book The Renascent Boomer – A Tsunami Rising. 

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