In this week’s MondayMotivator:
- Retirement can be a fun time to shake up your routine.
- Embrace mistakes and challenges for growth and excitement.
- Find joy in small moments and make time for playfulness.
What do you do each day to make your life more interesting? Working-age people frequently ask retired people that question because they always seem to be busy. Even though they no longer work.
When asked that question one retiree answered, “Well, for example, the other day my wife and I went into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5 minutes. When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and said, ‘Come on man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?’
He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. So I called him a moron. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires. So my wife called him a ‘fraction of a man’. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote.
Personally, we didn’t care, because we came into town by bus! Now that we’re retired, we try to have a little fun each day. It’s important at our age.”
For many people, sometimes life can become pretty routine. The same stuff every day, meeting the same people, and doing the same things over and over again.
Enough!
If it has been a while since you shook things up a bit and did something new, then believe me (and why wouldn’t you?) there are plenty of things that you can do right now to put some spice and zap into your daily schedule.
Here are some starters for you.
- Look for a few awesome people and ask what makes life a WOW for them. They’ll be pleased you asked. No one else will have.
- Allow yourself to make a few mistakes to create an exciting life. Watch out for making your next mistake and have a good laugh over it. You’re smart, you knew it was coming.
- Put some magic in your life. I have a friend who has set up many online businesses, made many mistakes and spent money on projects that sank like the Titanic. But he keeps going. He told me that his life was exciting and he had accumulated a container load of experience which brought him results. And he created some massive results from that experience. Note, he didn’t bet the farm on each one.
- Stretch yourself once a day. Remove the limit sign from your thinking. Read opinions totally opposite to what you currently believe.
- Call someone you admire and tell them you are taking a quantum leap in your life and would like 3 ideas to help you. Successful people will help you.
- Talk to people. It’s so easy, and if you’re shy, just start small by saying “Hi” to people as they walk past you or perhaps in the elevator. Eventually, some people will start conversations with you just because you said hi. Then you can move on to starting a conversation.
- Write a short ridiculous story. You don’t have to believe you are talented. Just write. Remember, you don’t need to publish it, but you can pretend you will.
- Learn some foreign language phrases. It’s easy and it’s fun. Use google translate – https://translate.google.com/.
Thomas Paine said, “I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.”
That’s an excellent way to go through life. So, no matter what you do, have a little fun each day. It’s important at ANY age.