If you are retired, is your retirement happiness connected to the privilege of living in a country ranked high in the world happiness report? Earlier this year the United Nations released its world happiness report. In the 2012 report Canada ranked as the 5th happiest country in the world — behind Denmark, Finland, Norway and Netherlands. […]
Author: Jeanette Lewis
How to Deal with the Five Top Retirement Worries
Everyone worries. Sometimes retired people worry more than working people because they have more time for worry. Research shows that retired people have worries that fall into five broad categories of concern — health, money, living arrangements, relationships, and maintaining a sense of purpose. Short-lived periods of worry happen naturally and everyone worries — not […]
How to Reframe Endings into New Beginnings
As postworksavvy readers know, life has many endings — the end of work, the end of a vacation, the end of school, the end of summer, and, of course, the end of life. The end of summer 2012 has me thinking about endings and about smart ways to deal with endings by re-framing. North American culture […]
How to Become a Smart Risk-taker in Retirement
Who never takes a risk, never has a chance The quotation comes from an old Chinese proverb and well describes why risk taking is essential for postworksavvy living. Yet so many retired people stop taking risks, favouring instead a life style based on predictability. This choice comes from popular advice to retirees that the secret to […]
Tips for Visiting a Cottage and Enjoying the Cottage Experience
Going to the cottage is a Canadian tradition. Whether it is an elegant and well-equipped retreat on a lake or a rustic cabin in the woods — the ritual of ‘getting away from it all’ in honoured through the country especially on long weekends when any excuse to escape the city is welcome. For 28 […]
Do you have good thoughts?
Once retired from the world of work, most people have more time to think about their lives. Holding good thoughts foremost in your mind is a great strategy for remaining optimistic about life and living with a positive, future-focused perspective. Many people spend precious time during retirement dwelling on the past and reminiscing about […]
Enjoying your retirement — how to stay focused on your priorities
All of us look forward to enjoying retirement and to filling our days with activities that matter. Through the last months of my career, I often thought about how I would spend my time. I dreamed of having enough time for hobbies, for physical fitness, for entertaining friends, for relaxing, and for learning new things. […]
Enjoying Retirement: A Dozen Secrets that Really Work
What are the secrets for enjoying retirement? After spending so many years pursuing career dreams, retirement is s gift that is meant to be savoured and enjoyed. Unfortunately, many people don’t enjoy the retirement years. They long for the excitement they experienced while working. They miss the camaraderie of colleagues. There is a sense of […]
How shovelling wood chips gives a new perspective on retirement
With retirement comes the gift of time and the capacity to use time in your own way. You are free to eat when you want to eat, sleep when you want to sleep, play at new hobbies, and yes, manage those pesky tasks that relate to daily living. Sometimes, though, you need to ‘mix things […]
Indulgence — Experiencing a mini-retreat
Last week I wrote about retreats and mused about the many benefits of such experiences. I also postulated that mini-retreats during retirement would bring many benefits. Little did I know that I was actually going to experience a mini-retreat within days of writing that post. The seeds were sown last winter when I suggested to […]
