None of us is average

I read this quote “You are the average of the five people you spend time with” and as I did more research I found that this quote was first said by Jim Rohn, who is a motivational speaker. I believe is idea is that you should spend your time with highly motivated and wonderful people, and if you do then you will become like the people you spend time with. This relates to the law of averages, which is the theory that the result of any given situation will be the average of all outcomes.

However, none of us is average, we are all special in our own way and we have our own unique gifts to offer the world. As we move through retirement we can reflect back over our life and make a decision to stay the course or to grow and become a better or different person.

Let us do an exercise now. Pick up your pen and paper, then write down the answers to the following questions:

1.   What is the kind of person you want to be?

2.   What is your ideal self that you wish to become?

3.   What are the qualities you want to possess?

4.   Who are the people you spend the most time with in your life currently?

a.   How are they like?

b.   What are the top 3 qualities each of them stand for?

5.   Do they match who you want to become in the future?

a.   Do their qualities match who you want to become?

b.   o they help enable or disable your vision for yourself

c.     Do they elevate you or bring you down?

6.   Who is the person who embodies the qualities you desire?

There are no rules. Let your imagination run wild here!

How can you increase contact with them?

This is where the interesting bit comes in. Depending on who these people are, you can use the following methods to reach out to them:

1.   Direct contact: This can be via face-to-face contact, telephone or via email/internet. Do you have any friends who might know this individual? Is there a way for you to bridge into the same social circles?

2.   Products of their work: If direct communication does not work out, you can always bring the person to you by reading any works under his/her name, such as shows, books or podcasts? Get your hands on them and soak yourself in them.

3.   Visualization: Clear your mind and visualize these people in your mind. Try to project them as clearly as possible, from how they look, think, act, say. When you are done, consult them in your mind and observe their responses to whatever you ask.

If you are to connect with them every day, even if for just 15 minutes a time, it’s a matter of time before your consciousness alters and shifts to the new level. If you are a stubborn individual in a low consciousness, it will take a longer period of time; if you are a high consciousness individual who is highly adaptable, it will take a shorter amount of time.

Eventually, you will start resonating with these people you aspire. You will find that you start thinking in the same wavelength and start talking about the same topics as them. Those thinking will then affect your actions, which will manifest into results you see in life.

Ensuring Canadians can afford needed medication

Prescription medication is a critical part of a high-quality, patient-centred and cost effective health care system. Canada stands out as being the only country with universal health care that does not have universal pharmaceutical coverage; as a result, all too many Canadians are doing without critical prescription medication due to cost.

Research (pdf file) done by the Angus Reid Institute found that over one in five Canadians (23%) reported that they or someone in their household did not take medication as prescribed because of the cost during the past 12 months.

A significant and increasing number of Canadians are feeling the pressure of prescription drug costs, are unable to afford the medications being prescribed to them, and are compensating by skipping doses, splitting pills, or not filling their prescriptions.

These are among the main findings of a comprehensive public opinion survey conducted in 2015 by the Angus Reid Institute – in partnership with the Mindset Social Innovation Foundation and with the co-operation of renowned health policy researchers in Canada. This national study also finds a large majority of Canadians share the view that "medicine should be part of Medicare", supporting a national Pharmacare system that would cover the cost of prescription drugs.

There is decidedly less consensus on what the program should look like and – especially – how it should be funded. This complete report including detailed tables and methodology can be found at here

Key Findings

•      More than one-in-five (23%) report that in the past 12 months they or someone in their household did not take their medicines as prescribed, if at all, because of the cost

•      Regionally, BC and Atlantic Canada show the highest levels of access problems (29% and 26% respectively)

•      Cost barriers affect Canadians of all ages

Many Canadians cannot afford their prescribed meds Nearly one-quarter (23%) of Canadians report that, in the past 12 months, they or someone in their household did not take their medicines as prescribed, if at all, because of cost. Statistics Canada's Survey of Household Spending reveals that spending on medication by households headed by a senior is the highest among all age groups. Despite provincial/territorial coverage, 12% of senior’s report skipping medication due to cost. Specifically:

•      About one-in-seven (14%) reported that they or someone in their household did not fill a prescription at all

•      One-in-ten (10%) did not renew a prescription

•      And one-in-seven (15%) did things to make a prescription last longer (such as skip doses/split pills/etc.) due to cost. Survey results highlight access barriers in all provinces, with variations that may reflect public coverage policy. For example:

•      B.C. has the highest rate of access barriers: 29 per cent don’t take medicines as prescribed, if at all, possibly because government in B.C. offers only “catastrophic” drug coverage

•      Atlantic Canada is also relatively high (26%).This too may be because of the limited nature of provincial drug plans in the region Cost barriers affect ages and income levels differently

•      All age groups experience some difficulty filling prescription drugs:

•      Almost three in ten (28%) adults under age 45 do so. This level was reported even by the youngest group, aged 18 to 24 (27%). This group generally also has lower income and less drug coverage.

•      Though older Canadians are less likely to experience access barriers to prescribed medicines, they still report experiencing such barriers at relatively high rates compared to other comparable healthcare systems around the world (2014 Commonwealth Fund International Health Survey pdf file). 

Have you found love yet?

When you begin to find love, in people and places where you haven't found it before, it's always because you've grown. It is also because you are open to new experiences, thoughts and dreams. Growing is good for the soul no matter what age! 

Will you be healthy in retirement?

Don't put off your retirement... you'll may end up sick!  A study  on Healthy Life Expectancy (pdf file) shows that living longer does not guarantee people will be fit enough to work into old age

Life expectancy increased by 10.1 years worldwide from 1990 to 2015. However, healthy life expectancy – the time people will live without illness or disability seriously affecting them – grew by an average of only 6.1 years. If you are a high income individual your life expectancy is higher than those who have middle, or lower income globally. 

Worldwide if you are 65 today and are in a low income, you can expect to live:

• If you are a women another 13 years with 4 of those years in poor health. 
• If you are a man another 12 years with  3 of those years in poor health.

If you have a high income you could expect:

• If you are a women another 21 years with only 5 of those years in poor health. 
• If you are a man you with a high income you could expect to live another 18 years with 4 of those years in poor health.

In the chart below I show how long a person who is 65 and in a high income bracket, may live (in various countries) in good health and how long they can expect to live in poor health. This also has huge implications for health care in each country.

Country Age 65 Now	Women Life Expectancy		Men’s Life Expectancy
	In Good Health	In Poor Health	In Good Health	In Poor Health
Canada	Another 21 years (86)	For 5 of the 21 years	Another 18 years (83)	For 4 years of the 18 years
United States	Another 21 years (86)	For 6 of the 21 years	Another 18 years (83)	For 5 of the 18 years
UK	Another 20 years (85)	For 4 of the 20 years	Another 18 years (83)	For 4 of the 18 years
Russia	Another 17 years (82)	For 4 of the 17 years	Another 13 years (78)	For 5 of the 13 years
Germany	Another 21 years (86)	For 5 of the 21 years	Another 17 years (82)	For 4 of the 17 years
France	Another 23 years (88)	For 6 f the 23 years	Another 18 years (83)	For 4 of the 18 years
Ukraine	Another 19 years (85)	For 5 of the 19 years	Another 16 years (81)	For 3 of the 16 years
Australia	Another 22 years (87)	For 5 of the 22 years	Another 19 years (84)	For 5 of the 19 years