The one thing in common is:

As we celebrate at this time of year, think about the fact that the one thing all famous authors, world-class athletes, business tycoons, singers, actors, and celebrated achievers in any field have in common is that they all began their journeys when they were none of these things. Yet still, they began their journeys.  Remember after retirement you have another 30 plus years for your second chance at life. My question is, as you have started the second part of your journey, do you have a plan? If not why not? Remember that you are so poised for greatness, all you have to do is start the journey with a plan!

Playgrounds for Seniors, an idea whose time has come

I read about this concept and thought what an interesting idea. We all love to play and having our own playground makes a great deal of sense to me. Again this shows me that Boomers are redefining ageing.

Although they're already constructed on four continents, so-called "playgrounds for seniors" are making news as a potential worldwide trend.

A strange-but-true story can be hard to resist, and one such story emanating from England last spring proved irresistible to many news organizations, bloggers and readers. It involved the opening of London's first outdoor playground for senior citizens, located in the city's popular Hyde Park, and the story went viral although its subject was neither completely accurate - it is more fitness park than playground - nor all that strange. England had already opened its first playground for seniors (in Manchester in 2008), an event that hardly penetrated the world's collective consciousness. 

Hyde Park Senior Playground eventually made 500 newspapers, but as the references to "swinging London" multiplied in print and online (despite no swings installed), it was easy to miss the wider story. Over the past six years, senior playgrounds have been constructed on at least four continents and are becoming more abundant - even in the United States, where they may well be about to bust out of the confines of senior living facilities.

Closer to home, the province of British Columbia has spent $2 million on outdoor playgrounds for older adults, Milner says. But these facilities are "way more prevalent in the United States than anywhere else," he adds, even if senior playgrounds in the U.S. have been funded and developed almost exclusively by retirement communities, with those under the purview of municipal agencies located at senior centres rather than in public parks.

Wellness playgrounds for elders take the concept of a traditional indoor exercise room and move it outdoors. Wellness playgrounds for elders include:

• Swings and see-saws.
• Walking paths, with ramps, steps, arches, and reflexology sections.
• Multi-person, face-to-face exercise equipment focused on balance, muscle tone cardiovascular activity, fine motor skills, and range of motion.
• Game tables for cards, board games, ping-pong, and jacks.
• Basketball hoops, bocce, horseshoes, or other tossing games.
• Touch-screen computers with games for brain exercise and dexterity.
• Conversational nooks and peaceful seating.
• Attractive small and large shelters.
• Raised and in-ground gardens.
• Water features.
• Acoustic spaces for playing and listening to music and readings.
• Murals and sculptures.
• Thoughtful use of colour.

Must Have Play's playgrounds for elders encourage social interaction by providing:

• Safe, attractive and peaceful gardens, with shelters, conversational seating nooks, and wide walking paths.
• Activity equipment designed for face-to-face usage.
• Games like chess, cards, bocce, and ping-pong.
• Spaces for yoga or tai chi.
• Acoustic performance spaces for both observing and performing.

Regular exercise for elders may help to:

• Prevent falls and fractures.
• Reduce the risk of strokes, heart disease, and some cancers.
• Lessen cognitive decline.
• Control obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Must Have Play provides consultations for designing and building wellness playgroundsfor retirement communities, assisted living and other senior communities. The organization provides 3D digital models of the design, cost estimates, builders, contractors, and consultants such as parks departments, town planners etc.

Wellness playgrounds for elders are also known in other parts of the world as Nursing Care Prevention Parks, Senior Citizens' Playgrounds, or Older People's Play Areas. Wellness playground for elders can be found in China, Japan, Finland, Germany, Canada, England and the United States.

source: musthaveplay.com

More stuff to think about

Do you know how you can tell when you're being watched? When strings are being pulled for you? When the game is rigged in your favor? When the marching band is playing a little louder on your behalf and the cheerleaders begin spelling your name?

Well, whenever and with new government paranoia get used to being watched just smile; remember its a Thursday, and for the government that is a good as any reason for watching you.

If you chose to protest, remember that there are stings being pulled for you, the game is rigged in your favor, (no matter what the government does), and the cheerleaders and the band have got our name right!

Can you move outside of your comfort zone?

When something shoves you outside of your comfort zone, it’s a lot easier to make it wrong than it is to accept it. It’s a lot easier to be fearful of it than it is to be fascinated by it. It’s a lot easier to condemn it than it is to understand it.

This Goes Well Beyond People, we do this with other stuff too! Not just people.

What have you crossed off your list because you already decided that it’s “impossible” even though countless others have done it?

What have you turned down because it was too “scary” forcing you to choose the safer path?

Who is missing from your life right now because you found out something about them that “just isn’t you?”

How many other experiences are you closed off to just because of how you have allowed your internal dialogue to interpret them?

I try not to but I still find that I judge someone or something based on some stupid rule I created. We all do. Sometimes I catch myself. But it’s in my nature as a human to judge a book by its cover. Just like you. And when I do, 99 out of 100 times I later find out that I was wrong about it. Just like you. I wonder how many great experiences I missed because I was afraid to move out of my comfort zone, and as life goes on, I am finding myself more open to experiences and to moving out of my comfort zone, but it is hard work, and worth it. Maybe you should think about moving out of your comfort zone. What have you got to lose?

Twenty-first century seniors

The following was written by Emily Alpert Reyes, and published on November 6, 2013,

Twenty-first century seniors: They’re not your grandparents' old folks.

The elderly are growing increasingly diverse in the United States, a new report from UCLA researchers shows. Roughly one out of five are members of a racial or ethnic minority. More than one out of eight were born outside the country. By 2050, Latinos are projected to make up 20% of those 65 and older.

Their lives also reflect other changes that have reverberated through American society in recent decades: Nearly 12% of seniors are separated or divorced, almost three times as many as in 1970, the report found.

Far more have college degrees than the elderly of decades ago. In 1970, only 6% of elderly men and 5% of elderly women had a college education; by the 2007-2009 period, those numbers had swelled to 27% and 16% respectively, researchers calculated.

And while men are less likely to keep working into their later years than they used to be, women are more likely to continue working through their 60s – another sign of the swelling numbers of women in the workforce across all ages, the report found.

The findings complicate the familiar stereotype of seniors as white, wealthy and retired. Earlier studies have shown that households headed by the elderly have grown wealthier, while the economic fortunes of those headed by young adults have tumbled.

However, a closer look at the elderly shows that not all are at ease in their “golden years,” said Judith Seltzer, co-author of the report and director of the California Center for Population Research at UCLA. The growing diversity among the elderly has serious implications for families, because some elders are much better poised to help their descendants than others.

“Those with fewer resources, educationally and economically, are the ones whose offspring are the most likely to need their help,” Seltzer said. “That will likely exacerbate inequality – not only among the old but among the young.”

For instance, divorce and other forms of family disruption are more common among poorer families, which often comes with economic costs.

Those families might then turn to a grandparent for help, but their elders have less resources to offer than other seniors. Americans with a college education are more likely to provide financial help to their adult children – and more of it – than those with less schooling, consumer surveys reveal.

Poorer elders, in turn, are more likely to help in other ways: Grandparents living in poverty are much more likely to take responsibility for caring for their grandchildren, Census Bureau data show.

The UCLA report is part of the US2010 Project, a research initiative funded by the Russell Sage Foundation and Brown University to examine recent changes in American societ

Retirement can be positive

When you retire and you want to be happy for the rest of your life (rather than follow the advice of  the song) think abut the following ideas

Have a backup plan
One person who volunteered this advice had a health issue that lead to an unexpected early retirement.  He is not alone in this as, according to a Royal Bank survey, about 40% of retired Canadians left work earlier than they had planned. 

Almost half of these said it was because employers initiated that severing of employment ties either through downsizing, relocating, or presenting a pink slip notice or a retirement package.  For others, it may be a health issue of their own or a loved one, a major life event like a sudden death in the family or a separation or divorce.  

Each person’s choice of timing is not always what happens and that means being  prepared for such surprises with a fall back plan.  Getting back into the work force may not be an immediate solution and so savings,  selling assets, insurance, a line of credit, or a loan need to be available in an emergency situation. 

Get used to being a nobody
This was hard for me to get used to  and not how I thought about who I was.  However, the person who did suggest it said, “I went from being a legend at work to a nobody in one day!”  
Identity issues are the ones that are most often presented as the reason for going to a counselor post retirement.  He suggested that joining clubs, interest or volunteer groups, fitness facilities and continuous learning programs are something to start before actually retiring.  It may take a year or two to get reoriented to a new way of living, a new pace, new friends, and so, the earlier the start, the better and easier the transition. 

A person needs to figure out how to get some positive feedback outside of work to feel a sense of meaningfulness, usefulness,  and accomplishment. He also suggested watching Red and Red 2 but I think that is just for fun although it is geared to retirement adjustment issues in part.

Have a game plan to stay connected
When I retired, I like many, said that I would keep in touch with the people I worked with, this did not happen except with a very few close friends. So, this may surprise you but many coworkers and colleagues do not keep in touch.  

If you want to stay in contact, you need to figure out a way to share some activities with those you choose to maintain friendships with like a movie or dinner out night. These people are part of a work family and, when someone retires, that person has left the family.  You need to take the initiative to get together outside of the work setting.

Have a game plan for who the people are that you want to hang out with, and do activities with and then they become the new social network.  Get a new community of positive people.  You need to stay active physically, mentally, and socially and the game plan is how you are going to do this.

The person who suggested this one said that she had retired quickly because she could not face going back to work after her summer vacation and had not put any game plan into place.  She found that she had way too much time on her hands and nothing to do and no one to do it with leaving her regretting her decision to retire.  It took a long time to rebuild her new life.

Just say yes
Life will bring opportunities and you do not know where they will take you and so go for it!   Try out new experiences and do not be afraid of change.  Figure out how to use your skills for a volunteer organization,  take courses, teach courses, go backpacking, hike in the Rockies, go back to stuff you love and did not have the time for because of work, get creative, take dance lessons, start a new business or coach those who need it.   Just get out there and have fun!

This tip is an interesting one, because the stats show that if you don't get involved within a few months of retiring you will not get involved at all.  A warning here would be to watch for “voluntoldism” where you get suggested or pushed into things you do not really want to do.  This can range from the long honey do list to involvement in fundraisers, board of directors’ positions, to projects that take your time and energy to a dead end.  I would suggest that you balance the SAY YES with conscious choices on your part. Organizations that rely on volunteers are desperate for good people and when you say yes, they will push you to become more and more active. Pace yourself and only volunteer for what you are interested and passionate about.

Retirement is anything you want it to be.  Make it what you do want.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Don't look at me like that. Why not? Today is December 1st  and that's as good as any day to make a new start, right?

Some people (usually those with school-aged kids) view September as the beginning of a new year. Others see January as the new year. So why not get the jump on things by seeing TODAY as the beginning of a new year? Let's declare a fresh start.

December feels like it's full of possibilities and potential - I predict big things ahead!

Congrats to the seniors and boomers

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BORN IN 1930's, 1940's, 50's, 60's, 70's and Early 80's !!! First, a you survived beinh born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a tin, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, your baby cots were covered with bright colored lead-based paints. You had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when you rode your bikes, you had no helmets, not to mention, the risks you took hitchhiking ..
As children, you would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a van - loose - was always great fun. You drank water from the garden hosepipe and NOT from a bottle. You shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. You ate cakes, white bread and real butter and drank pop with sugar in it, but you weren't overweight because...... 

YOU WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! You would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach you all day. And you were OK. You would spend hours building your go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out you forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, you learned to solve the problem . You did not have Playstations, 

Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no text messaging, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........YOU HAD FRIENDS and you went outside and found them! You fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents you played with worms(well most boys did) and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although you were told it would happen, you did not poke out any eyes. You rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Local teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing you out if you broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! 

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. You had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and you learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were