Today marks one year since I left the office, put my briefcase into a corner and started retirement. It’s one year later and every day still feels like a vacation! The first 365 days of retirement have been wonderful. Moreover, I am confident that next year will be better yet. I look to the future […]
Author: Jeanette Lewis
Are you making each day count — strategies to ensure you keep growing
We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves. Alice Bloch quote Last weekend I attended a retirement event in honour of the career of a former colleague. It was a great chance to re-connect with people who I had known during my career. The reception provided opportunities to catch up with […]
Scoring your Retirement — How do you measure retirement well-being?
The secret of health for both body and mind is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly –Buddha Well-being most often refers to ideas such as happiness, fulfillment, quality of life or living a good, meaningful life. Spiritual leaders, psychologists and […]
What are your essential May 2-4 traditions?
For Canadians this Victoria Day weekend, affectionately known as the May 2-4 weekend signals the start of warm weekends of relaxation. In Ontario, it has been affectionately called the May 2-4 weekend, a slang term, for the propensity of novice drinkers to foolishly consume a case of 24 bottles of beer very quickly. Some call […]
Keeping in touch — social networks that matter
Last week I attended a meeting of former Executive Directors of Ontario child welfare agencies who are now retired. Charmed by the meeting site in beautiful Stratford Ontario — home of the Stratford Shakespearean Festival Theatre and one of the most enchanting small cities in Ontario — as well as knowing that the organizer was someone whose […]
What did the royal wedding mean to you?
Last Friday morning I set my alarm clock for 4:30 am, got up, made coffee and sat glued to a television screen watching the pomp and pageantry from Westminster Abbey as Prince William married Kate Middleton. From the spring boughs decorating the Abbey, to the colourful outfits and ‘fascinators’ or other headgear worn by female […]
Why you can't take Canada's May 2 election for granted
Following a ruling by the speaker of the House of Commons that found the Steven Harper government in contempt of parliament, the opposition parties used a non-confidence motion to bring down the minority conservative government. As a result, Steven Harper, Prime Minister asked the Governor General to call an election on May 2. An element […]
It finally feels like spring — garden resolutions
Although temperatures in Ontario remain stubbornly below average, the sun came out of hiding today and faint glimmers of spring are around. Everywhere, Canadians are impatiently watching for warmer weather. In my garden the purple and white crocuses are providing some welcome touches of colour. In mid-April, it is finally beginning to feel like spring. […]
What are your real retirement needs?
During this week I listened to a CBC radio program on aging in Canada. Part of the program featured telephone calls from retired people from across the country. Many comments were heart wrenching with stories of arbitrary reductions of company pensions, attempts to live on Old Age Security and Canada Pension Benefits, concerns about failing […]
How your face reflects your thinking
At a party last week, the stress that was evident on many faces in the room surprised me. Most of the people attending were my age (60 plus) and the faces looked unhappy despite the gaiety of the evening, the lovely food and the libations. It wasn’t the wrinkles or the smile lines around […]
