Selecting Soldiers

The baby boomer generation grew up with a number of specters hanging over their heads. One fear that seemed to hang like an inevitable doom for the childhood and youth of this generation was that of nuclear war and the potential end of life on earth that these weapons could cause if used unchecked.

But there was another much more real threat that was being used with great regularity and it meant a potential fate of death in a war associated activity. That was the specter of the military draft. This form of selecting soldiers was widely used for decades and over many wars and was considered the norm.

The use of conscription was not something the United States Government invented. Civilizations as far back as the Greeks and the Romans used a form of conscription to assure that their armies were supplied with a continuous, healthy flow of young men to serve in the armies of the country, primarily in preparation for warfare. In fact, up until the 1960s in America, it was part of the cultural assumptions that all young men would serve four years of service to their country between high school and college or starting their families.

Like many things related to he military, the horrific war in Vietnam changed that cultural assumption. And the generation to question and finally end the draft in this country was the baby boomer generation. Throughout the sixties, young men lived in constant fear of the draft which, at least in the eyes of baby boomer youth, meant almost certain deployment to Vietnam and almost certain injury or death.

But the horror of the military draft and the resultant imposed service in Vietnam did not strike terror only in the hearts of young men in high school. The war dragged on for such a long time that youth as young as nine and ten years old in the sixties were already making plans to find a way to avoid the inevitability of the draft. Forty years later, it’s easy to forget that at that time finding a legitimate way to cause the draft to pass you by was not considered by the prevailing population to be treason or even cowardice. In the eyes of moms and dads, sisters and aunts and uncles, anything they could do to keep their young men from that perceived sentence of death was fair game.

And so once the conflict in Vietnam came to an end, the draft as it was commonly known at the time came to an end. It’s to the credit of the military and the heart of American young men that the country has been able to keep a well staffed and well trained military that has largely continued to win on the battlefield even without the draft.

One wonders if the military draft will ever return to common use in this country. The memory of the horror of living under a draft may die out with the baby boomer generation. However, it may be that the cultural change in the way Americans view warfare may not permit the return to such a random way of finding America’s bravest and finest to conduct her wars. It’s a serious question that has serious results however, the country decides from generation to generation. We know that America cannot exist without a standing army. There is no question that in the minds of the American citizen that we must maintain a military that is superior in every way to every other army in the world. So can this be done without ever resorting to a draft to supply the armed forces with sufficient force levels to defend the country?

This may be a question that baby boomers themselves may need to decide in the context of the political dialog that happens around elections. For today, we know that the military seems capable of maintaining sufficient might to keep America’s enemies relatively at bay despite sporadic attacks. And as long as the military can keep the armies of other countries from disturbing the American way of life, it is unlikely we will see a draft any time soon.

An Aversion to War

If there ever was a baby boomer “issue” that has become engrained into the heart and psyche of a generation, it is an aversion to war due to the horrific experience if Vietnam. While a relatively small percentage of surviving baby boomers actually went to and fought in Vietnam, the scar on the national psyche was so deep that it has influenced the way baby boomers have thought about war and how they selected their government representatives for over 30 years.

This is in stark contrast to the way the parents of the Baby Boom generation viewed warfare and the use of the country’s military might. Because World War II was such a necessary conflict and winning it would be the difference between a world of freedom or domination by a cruel dictator, that fight had a nobility and a clear cut purpose to it. So when we, as Americans, banded together to defeat Nazi Germany and her allies, it was an act of world changing sacrifice and nobility that shaped that generation. To the parents of baby boomers, warfare in a noble cause was the highest calling of a nation and part of our national pride.

Everything about Vietnam was contrary to that vision. The mission was unclear and the military was not empowered to win decisively as they were in World War II. Some saw Vietnam as a puppet war in several respects. In one way it was a puppet war because the real enemy in Vietnam was not the North Vietnamese but China and Russia were using that conflict, and the Vietcong as puppets to lure the American military into a no win situation and deplete our resources and our will to fight.

Others viewed Vietnam as a puppet conflict to benefit the American military and business interests who were profiting from the conflict. While this is a cynical and harsh way to view a conflict, the distrust of the “military/industrial complex” was prevalent in the minds of a youthful baby boomer generation who saw their brothers and cousins go off to a brutal war which, in their minds, was being conducted to benefit business. Small wonder that many came out of this era bitter and resentful of big business interests. That distrust has surfaced many times over the years and it dominates discussions of modern conflicts America is involved with.

But there has been good come out of the national aversion to war that was the product of the Vietnam conflict. The anti war movement did not result in the reduction in our commitment to a strong military and the America’s military continues to be the strongest on earth. In fact, some of the ways the military has served the country in situations that were not warlike such as hurricane relief etc. has reinforced that the military as an institution is a necessary and honorable part of our society.

Moreover, the way wars since Vietnam have been conducted have shown, in many cases, that an intelligent approach to conflict will result in the wise use of our military. The current problematic conflict tends to overshadow that since Vietnam, our presidents have used the military with skill and intelligence that reflects the insistence of the baby boom generation that we don’t just be the strongest military power, we also have to be the wisest. The way small conflicts like the Balkans and the first Gulf War were conducted reflect a new strategy that avoids the tragic mistakes of Vietnam and uses our military to win decisively and quickly.

Each new conflict gives the baby boomer generation and indeed all generations before and after the chance to redefine what military superiority really means. And whatever political viewpoint we might have, it can be said that if Vietnam caused the baby boomer generation to become more reflective and call upon political leadership to show accountability and responsibility in the use of our military might, that is a good outcome of what otherwise was a very bad war.

Things Grandparents Know

Baby boomers seem gifted with perpetual youth. But they are also people of passion. From the moment this generation arrived on this earth, they seemed to be bringing a mission and a different vision for society than had existed before. This sense of knowledge and of vision accounts for the incredible drive baby boomers have shown throughout their adult lives which have resulted in changes to society so profound that life in America today only faintly resembles how we lived in the 50s and 60s.

Each era of life has brought its own challenges to baby boomers. As parents, baby boomers were committed to having a different kind of relationship with their children. They are more hands on, participatory and interactive with children in a much greater way than generations before. In a very real way, baby boomers parents sought to be both parent and best friends to their children. The outcome has not always been positive but you do see a sense of family unity and emulation of parents in children of boomers that is even more committed than the family model of the past because baby boomers viewed parenting as a mission and job one of their lives.

As baby boomers move out of the parenting role, at least in terms of having youngsters at home, they now have an opportunity to define in their own terms what it means to be a grandparent. Becoming grandma and grandpa may be a bit difficult for a generation that has always fought the coming of aging and resisted even adulthood much less old age. But if baby boomers embrace the concept of being the kindly and wise old grandparent and filling that role in the lives of their children and grandchildren, they can have an influence on another generation beyond them to pass along their insights and guidance in ways that only grandparents can do.

Children see grandma and grandpa in a different light. Naturally they love them and love the opportunity to visit their grandparents if for no other reason than grandma always has cookies for them. But sitting on granddads knee and hearing his stories or just enjoying his love and teasing is part of growing up that children cherish long into their adult years. And it is a time that even baby boomers can embrace and thoroughly enjoy.

There was a great book out not long ago named “If I knew being a grandparent was this much fun, I would have done it first.” This amusing concept reflects that the joy of being grandpa and grandma to your children’s children is fulfilling in ways that even surpass the important role baby boomers had as parents. Children listen to their grandparents because they are wise and old and it gives them a sense of security to see that it’s possible to go through life successfully and still be full of life and fun even when old age is upon us. That is why children intuitively know that there are things grandparents know that they want to learn while on granddads lap and they cherish the lessons they are taught from a revered elder.

It’s good when baby boomers embrace this new role. Just as when boomers embraced parenthood, they threw themselves into the challenge with a passion that changed the definition of parenting for the better. So too, baby boomers can bring their passion, their sense of deep commitment and their love of family to the role of grandparent and give their grandchildren the gift of a wonderful grandma and grandpa who not only always had love and fun for them but also always seemed to know the right answer.

Look to your time with your grandkids as a time to pass along the wisdom that 50-60 years of life has given you. While children need the guidance and knowledge of their parents, the role of teacher, disciplinarian and rules maker sometimes clouds the parent relationship. That is why grandchildren are open to hearing what grandma or grandpa has to say because the relationship is more clear cut and they see their grandparents as fountains of wisdom always given in love.

Rock and Roll Never Forgets

It’s a sad thing when we, as baby boomers, begin to feel like “old fogies” when it comes to music and the “hip” things going on in popular culture. It’s also easy to forget that the rock music and many other genres of modern music got their launch way back during the days when baby boomers were the young people changing society and it was our music that changed the world.

So it’s good for baby boomers to remember such things about their heritage and what they passed on to the music and entertainment culture today. In the song “Rock and Roll Never Forgets” by Bob Seger, the singer reviews the changes baby boomers have gone through as they go from youth to middle age and deal with pressures of work, family, child rearing and changes in health due to aging. But the end result remains the same that at the heart of every baby boomer is a rock and roller who is just as capable as ever of enjoying the music that was the foundation of their culture.

One of the things that disheartened the baby boomer generation growing up was seeing the rock and roll life style take its toll on many of the icons of youth culture and music including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Freddie Mercury. But the unfortunate demise of these music heroes does not diminish the great contribution to music and to culture down through the years. So as much as we grieve the loss of great talent, we can always celebrate what they gave to us and continue to give to us down to modern times as music continues to reference those great figures of 60s music as icons and inspirations.

But for every rock and roller who did not survive that turbulent time in our culture, we can look to great performers who did survive, overcame their addictions and went on to continue to give great music to the world decade after decade. Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie are examples of wonderful and talented music heroes that demonstrated that age and a few wrinkles don’t mean a thing. They continue to rock and roll today as hard and with as much heart as they did when they were in their twenties.

In a way “to rock and roll” is a metaphor for living life to its fullest and for staying true to your values and living life in a genuine way that never gives up on what’s important in life. That is why baby boomers have always had the greatest contempt for anyone who sells out or abandons their core principles that they espoused in youth. To sell out is to say that none of the great history of the youth revolution meant anything and we are willing to turn out backs on it. But to “rock and roll” means always going back to your roots and never giving up, even when age, and busy lives and poor health say that you should slow down and not try to live with as much earnestness as you did when you were young.

Baby boomers, even at this dignified and “mature” stage in life, should feel liberated to be able to go ahead and “rock and roll” in a real sense of the word. The Bob Seger song was a hit because it gives us permission to reconnect with our roots and express that youthful enthusiasm again. You don’t have to go to a nostalgia show to do that either. There are dozens of great rock and roll acts that are giving to the children of baby boomers (and their grandchildren) that same excitement we got from The Beatles and The Stones.

“Discovering” rock and roll all over again can be great fun for a baby boomer especially when you find a new act that has that power and ability to perform that reminds us of the acts of our youth. They are out there so just get out there and uncover this great natural resource of talent in the music and culture of today’s youth revolution.

A Second Career at Craft Shows

Baby boomers are a very creative people. But so often the demands of career and raising a family leaves little time for creativity in your middle age years. But as more baby boomers complete their years of service in their careers and move toward retirement, they have plenty of energy and creativity left for a new passion in life, one that expresses all that creativity of their youth.

This is one reason we have seen such an explosion of craft fairs in the country which provide an outlet for all of that creative talent baby boomers are expressing through their arts and craft. The great thing about crafts shows is you can start wherever you are in your creative arts and continue to grow and become more skilled each passing year. To get started, you should take on this new hobby and small business with the same enthusiasm and passion you did when you were employed in your former career. That is the great thing about baby boomers having this kind of free time in the retirement years. There is so much talent and energy available that to not make it available to the public would be a crime.

It is going to take some preparation to get ready for your first craft fair. The preparation will be on three fronts. One is making contacts with the organizers of upcoming fairs and getting on the schedule to be able to display a booth there. The easiest way to find out how to do that is attend the new craft fair that comes up in the area. They are often associated with special events such as Oktoberfest or a food or music festival. By attending several as you are in your preparation period, you can accomplish several good things…

. You can look at booths of many different vendors to get ideas for your booth when you are ready to take the plunge.
. You can talk to vendors who are selling there and learn about how to go about getting on the program for this fair and to learn about upcoming events you can participate in. Don’t worry about you seeming to pose a threat as a future competition for sales. There is a camaraderie among crafters and you will enjoy the social aspect of mixing with other creative people.
. You can talk to the people who organize the show and get a feel for how you will fit in to their next event.

Another line of preparation is booth creation. It’s good if you are starting early because it will take some time and a bit of expense to get the materials together and for you to build the skills to put the booth up, take it down, move it and store it between shows. Again, your contacts with experienced craft show veterans will be invaluable for this.

Finally, but this is the most important part of your preparations is your talent and craft that you will be preparing to sell at the craft shows. You can purchase some examples of similar crafts you see doing well at the fairs you scout out. These can be templates for what you want to do. But you will impose your own creative vision on the craft so what you offer when you finally get to the craft faire will be uniquely yours and speak of your vision.

Along with these preparations, think about how you will customize your booth to draw customers in. From craft fairs you have attended in the past and the ones you scout, you will witness that there are certain booths that draw crowds and others that just don’t seem to get the customers. So you want to make your booth inviting to customers so you will reap a good return on your effort in the form of sales.

There are a variety of ways to draw customers. From candles, to contests, to videos playing, to using music or live talent to making your craft as people watch, there are many ways you can experiment around with to draw customers. You will get a unique thrill from the sales you make each day. But more importantly, you will be expressing that creative side of you and getting that fulfillment that you had to wait to this phase of life to express. And that’s a wonderful benefit of learning to sell your crafts at craft fairs.

Now is the Time to Quit Smoking

We can only hope that the baby boomer generation will be the last one who grew up in a culture where smoking was cool and acceptable. The health passion of baby boomers that comes out of their dislike of anything that accelerates the aging process is one of the reasons the anti smoking movement has gained strength in the last decade. The reasons for quitting smoke are well known to anyone who has paid attention to the issue at all.

. Smoking reduces the life span. For the baby boomer generation, living a long and healthy life is a way of staying young. Smoking not only shortens the life span but it is a plague to your health in every era of life.

. Smoking destroys quality of life. Simple pleasures like breathing and enjoying a fine meal are damaged because smoking dominates the lungs and taste buds. The pleasures that make life worthwhile are rendered neutral by smoking.

. Smoking hurts the innocent. Secondary smoke hurts the ones you love and it plants in children the desire to smoke in their adult lives.

. Smoking brings on dire diseases such as cancer and lung disease. These diseases are deadly and they can make life in your retirement years miserable.

. Smoking makes you ugly. This may be the worst crime there is to a baby boomer. Smoking causes wrinkles and dries the skin making you look decades older than you really are.

The good news is that even for baby boomers who may have been smoking for decades, it’s always possible to quit. Sometimes it’s easy to decide you can never beat this addiction. You may have tried the patches and pills and even hypnotism and the desire for the nicotine poison lingers on. But it is possible to do it. There are some steps to getting it done which will take a while but they are proven to work.

. Get plenty of support. Get your family on your side and educate them on your program. If you commit to them you are going to do it, they can love that habit out of your system.

. Catalog your smoking. Make a precise journal of exactly how many cigarettes you have every day, when you have them and even who you are with when you have them.

. Stabilize your usage. Now select the 10 or 20 times each day you will have a cigarette and only let yourself have one at those allotted times. Do this for about 2 weeks. If you want a cigarette at another time, just promise yourself you will wait for it.

. Starting with week one of the quit smoking campaign, eliminate one cigarette from your routine. Pick the easiest time not to have one. Pick the time that is least social so you feel less pressure to go ahead and light up. So where you may have smoked 20 cigarettes a day before, now you smoke 19 a day. Do that for 2 weeks. If you want a cigarette during that eliminated time, just promise yourself you can have one at the next allowed smoke break.

. Eliminate one cigarette from your schedule every do weeks. 18 cigarettes a day for 2 weeks, then 17, then 16 and on and on. Keep notes. Go from easiest time to quit to hardest.

. With each successful phase, have a little celebration with your friends and family.

. Finally you will down to one a day. You will have scaled your dependency down to this one tiny smoke break. You will come to that moment when you say, “Oh what’s the point of having the one?” Then you can crumple up your last pack and throw it way.

The great thing about this approach is its free and you just slowly reduce your dependence by promising yourself that cigarette at the next allowed smoke time. Stay with the same brand so your level of nicotine remains constant. And by staying at each level for a couple of weeks, you give your body a chance to slowly get used to each reduced level until you have weaned yourself off of the dreaded weed entirely. And when you throw that final pack away, its time for a big party. Congratulate yourself because you have quit smoking and just added years of fun and happiness and joy with your family to your life.

Smart Baby Boomer Travelers

If you ask a representative sample of baby boomers that are approaching their retirement years what they are looking forward to the most about retirement, the most common answer that comes back is, “travel”. There is something about the romance and fun of travel that appeals to us as we think about stepping out of the work world and doing things we have been hoping to do for all our lives. And travel has that sense of adventure that calls to us when we look forward to a time when our responsibilities are few but we have the resources to realize our dreams.

If travel is a major objective of your retirement planning, the earlier in life you get started planning your travel adventures, the more fun your trips will be. They say that anticipation is half the fun of a trip. So why not start now planning for your various destinations and the adventures you want to have when you get there?

If the baby boomer got a chance to travel during those child rearing years, you no doubt already have some solid travel disciplines in place to use for routine trips. Most of us have learned to travel smart from business travel or traveling to see family over the years. But it’s a good idea to review your preparation check lists when you start thinking of longer trips, perhaps to more exotic and unknown locations such as Europe, The Middle East or South America.

Remember that when you are retired and planning longer trips, that is going to present some unique challenges in terms of packing. Its one thing to pack for three days in Orlando but its something else entirely to pack for two weeks in Germany or Greece. It takes an experienced and prepared traveler to only take the essentials and to keep your packing light and efficient. Some core principles that will help you include…

. Take things that don’t need pressing or a lot of maintenance. If you can use the same garment over several days, that cuts down on your bulk considerably. You can even rinse out wash and wear garments in your hotel room and hang them up in the bathroom while you sleep and they will good as new in the morning.

. Don’t pack it. Buy it. It might pay to pick up some of your disposable items when you get to your destination. You can buy your toiletries and even a garment or two if something gets left behind once you arrive. And by not taking a lot of disposable items, you cut down on the chances you will have trouble with security.

. Check your bags. You see people who try to drag everything on board with them to avoid baggage claim. These are your rookie travelers. Better to trust the airline with the bag and be prepared if your bag gets lost than to have all that struggle trying to get everything into bags you can take on board.

. Be prepared to lose your bags. Just pack a small carry on with what you must have that first night in the hotel. Include small items for changing clothes, sleepwear and hard to replace toiletries so if you do find your bags didn’t make the trip, you can stay comfortable until they catch up to you.

Be smart and think ahead about where you are going and what you will need there. Read as much as you can about your destination and book your accommodations well in advance so you know you are expected even in a part of the world that is new to you. These kinds of preparations will make your retirement travel fun and exciting and keep you on the road regularly for many years to come.

Building Retirement Fortune Through Online Trading

There is a certain romance to trading on the stock market. Wall Street and all the drama of what goes on there seems exciting and a place where millionaires are made in a day. Fortunately, for most of us, Wall Street is a far away place and we would be too intimidated to actually try to trade in that complex environment. If you get a chance to visit and watch the frantic trading floor in action, that’s plenty.

Baby boomers are notoriously self confident and have a generational attitude of, “If someone can do it, so can I.” When this attitude is brought to investing, that can set up a dangerous situation for the baby boomer from a financial perspective. The explosion of the internet which has put virtually every kind of transaction at our fingertips has spawned this new phenomenon of “Online Trading.” In theory, any baby boomer could sit down with their retirement money and with a flew clicks on their favorite stock investment web site, make a fortune over night.

Well, at least that is the allure of online trading. There are some very good things about the movement that has been afoot in the last few years to put your financial world at your fingertips on the internet. Some of those advantages are…

. You can stay in touch with your bank balances and your investments on a daily or even hourly basis by having updates delivered right to your desktop. This is unprecedented access to your own money. It can be a blessing because it raises your awareness of your investments or a curse because it makes you less tolerant and willing to “ride out” market fulgurations.

. Online trading services have reduced broker’s fees by putting the power to invest in the market right at your fingertips. But by taking the brokers out of the loop somewhat, you also lose their valuable expertise and advice to keep you from making disastrous mistakes.

. Online trading has made management of your financial picture part of your online entertainment. But it also could lead to becoming obsessed with investing rather than putting your money in a solid long-term plan and moving on with your life.

. The sudden interest in online trading has made more people knowledgeable about the stock market and what their money is doing. There is no downside to becoming educated about this important part of your financial planning.

But like anything else, particularly when it comes to the internet, using some common sense is crucial to not letting yourself go crazy with online investing. Baby boomers, as they move into the retirement years, very often find themselves with some but not enough retirement funding. So it’s easy to see online investing as a way of supplementing that income and retiring in luxury as we all dream to do.

If there was any mantra, we must have about investing, especially if we are using online tools, it is, “Be prudent and be informed.” There is no substitute for getting some education and doing some reading into the mechanics of the stock market and into the strategies that are most likely to be a success for you. The stock market is no place for “get rich quick” schemes because they are more likely to result in “get poor quick” outcomes.

But for the smart baby boomer who does his or her homework and knows what they are doing and gets good advice from investment analysts that know the market, online investing can become a good addition to your financial planning arsenal and be a lot of fun for you as well.

Hippies

A lot of baby boomers would like to forget that one of the watershed movements that defined the personality of this generation was the time frame dominated by, for lack of a better word, hippies. That term that seems somewhat quaint and antiquated now had a tremendous power in the mid to late sixties when it carried with it the impact of tremendous social change as well as a massive shift in public morality and consciousness. So while this is often a time of a bit of embarrassment for the baby boomer generation, it is also a formative part of their history and it deserves respect for that reason.

To be fair, not all baby boomers were hippies. As is often the case, the hippie movement was something that got tremendous media coverage but it represented only a small portion of the baby boomer population at the time. By percentage, very few of that age group actually joined the “tune in, drop out, turn on” society of the hippies. But because hippies were a colorful, eccentric, flamboyant and sinful crowd, they titillated the public interest any time there was a public spectacle brought on by hippie gathering.

But despite being few in number, the hippie culture did send waves of change into the society at the time. Part of that was because there was a general discontent with the Vietnam War. So when the hippie movement became linked with the antiwar movement, they blended to where there was virtually no distinction. Add to that big changes in youth culture brought on by the explosion of new musical styles and changes in lifestyle and worldview that the new cultural leaders in the rock music world promoted and you have a formula for the hippie movement becoming a watershed shift of social values in a generation.

Rather than just look back on the hippies with mild amusement and a little disgust, it may be best to review this important part of our past and notice the good this part of our history left for the boomer generation to carry forward. While on the surface we associate hippies with drug use and free love (e.g. sex), the actual movement itself was grounded in tremendous sense of value, morality and social responsibility.

The youth movement at the time held a mirror up to society and demanded we look. Moreover, for the first time ever, it held public figures accountable for actions that were taken that harmed the public good. This was revolutionary to be sure and it has made the public more demanding and scrutinizing of the government ever since. And that is a good thing.

There was a strong thread of ethics and philosophy in the hippie social system that, while different from what America and the world was used to, was grounded in a fierce devotion to right and wrong in the hippie or counterculture movements. Along with a strong commitment to the values of that society, hippies and associated societies were fearless and uncompromising in their willingness to put themselves on the line to see their values translate into public policy. This was an element of the hippie subculture that made it so explosive. Because the youth movement was so willing to demonstrate and make grand and flamboyant public statements to emphasize their political, ethical or moral outrage, things changed in a way that the country had never seen before.

The counter culture of the sixties literally put the power for change back into the hands of the people. And that is in step with what the founding fathers wanted for America and something we can be thankful to the hippie movement for giving back to our society.

The Actor Inside You

Baby boomers love the theater. And with good reason. The theater has always been an art form that teaches the love of culture and values that were important to baby boomers when they were enjoying those explosive years of youth during the 50s and 60s. You can see the influence of the stage even in the clothing and ways of expressing themselves that the “hippies” demonstrated when they were at their zenith.

The love of the stage and culture that has become wide spread in the baby boomer culture also reflects that this has always been a very well educated generation. The fact that such a big percentage of baby boomers either had some exposure to the arts in college themselves or from their parents has been a healthy thing for preserving this important part of society throughout the time this generation has been in charge.

For many a baby boomer the stage has held a fascination that is more than just watching a good play and being a good patron of the arts. Many feel that there is a performer inside them that wants to become part of theater history by getting up there and acting in a play with all the joys and terrors that such a big step would mean. But that shyness and unwillingness to take a chance has kept many of us from getting out there and giving it a try, knowing it could lead to disaster. While risk taking of this nature might have been easy when we were youth, it might not be so easy as adults when we, allegedly, need to preserve our pride and try not to look stupid on stage if we forget a line.

But as more and more baby boomers move toward retirement age and have the time to explore the creative side of themselves, this time of life is a perfect opportunity to get out there and take that plunge and see if you can release the actor inside to captivate a crowd with your dramatic or comedic talents.

There are plenty of opportunities around that you can give yourself a chance to step out on stage and experience that thrill of performing a theatrical piece for a live audience. Virtually every community in the country has one or many local theater groups who offer the chance for an amateur actor to try his or her wings in a small role of that next local production. In addition, many churches, colleges, art museums, improv groups and culture centers use drama as part of their programs. These are good places to try out your acting skills in short 3-5 minute skits that would take less commitment to learn and limit your time on stage so you can get your legs and learn the craft.

If you want to get involved with groups like this, it’s easy to volunteer and perhaps enjoy being part of theater without getting out on stage at first. You can help with sets, costumes and other tasks and still have the fun of rehearsals and all that back stage drama before you actually have to step out there and face an audience.

If ever there was a part of life that cried out those words that should become our mantra as baby boomers who are sprouting new wings in our later years, the theater is that place. And that mantra is WHY NOT? Why not take a chance with a part of life you have always dreamed of trying out? Retirement is a time when you say, “Hey! No more excuses. I am going to give it a try.”

You have let your fears and timidity keep you from letting that actor inside you try out an actual role in an actual play for long enough. By letting that actor inside out, you may have the most fun you could ever imagine by getting out on stage and becoming someone else for a little while. And when you hear that sound of applause and you know that applause was for you, then that actor inside you will not only thank you for letting him loose, he will begin nagging you to get out there again and try an even bigger role next time. And you will be hooked for life.

Mentoring

Baby boomers owe a lot to mentors of their own youth that instilled the values that brought them into the world. You might not think back on the wild days of the 50s and 60s as a time when mentored youth were expressing the values of their elders. But there is really no way that such a powerful explosion of culture change could happen without the influence of teachers and mentors on the youth of the time.

The mentors of the youth culture developed their values in the 40s and 50s. These were values that were outraged by the ravages of war and perceived injustice in society. The outcome of the civil rights movement, the women’s rights advances and other society changing movements show that the teaching of a few principled individuals can literally change the world.

As baby boomers move toward late middle age, this is an outstanding time to consider mentoring a youth of the next generation to pass long some of the values that have held true for baby boomers over the decades. This is the real treasure of one generation passing their wisdom on to the next when they are able to share with the young what values really do mean something and which ones will pass with time.

A song from the youth days of the baby boomer generation that so perfectly demonstrates the importance of the old mentoring the young is “Father and Son” by the folk performer Cat Stevens. In this song, a father counsels his son who is consumed with the passion of his values and the explosive and impatient desire to make them a reality. Baby boomers can relate to that poetic song because they are a generation who have worked to retain their values but to put those values to the test to find the truths that truly are eternal and reject what is only of importance for a time.

For baby boomers, who are now the wise elderly citizens of society, mentoring youth is a wonderful time to not just teach values to youth in an instructional setting but to teach them in the most important way, by being part of their lives. Wonderful organizations such as the Big Brother program and many church groups love to use the good hearts of baby boomers who want to reach out to the next generation just as their own elders guided them to wise values that have lasted a lifetime.

But it isn’t just the youth that benefit from a strong mentor that is working within the context of a well organized and administered program to help young people. There is something fulfilling for the aging baby boomer to share from the heart with a troubled youth who needs a friend and to give them the greatest gift possible, the gift of time and friendship. For many baby boomers who may have lost a child or experienced tragedy in this area of life, becoming a friend to a youth and seeing that youth blossom into a young man or woman who wants to get out there and change the world validates who they were as youth as well and gives them that feeling of connection to the young.

That feeling of making life better for one who is just starting out in life can give a baby boomer that is moving toward retirement a sense of closure and satisfaction that the hard won knowledge and wisdom they obtained has been good for a young person. And that kind of satisfaction can lead to a happier and more peaceful retirement experience and prepare any who would give themselves to mentoring what he or she will need to prepare for that final adventure of passing on from this world to the next one.

The Joys of Gardening

If you are not a gardener, you may wonder why this hobby has become so popular even with city people who have the resources to go to the grocery and get food with much less effort. Perhaps much of the joy that comes from gardening originated in our baby boomer values that came from those golden “hippie” days of the 1960s. Part of the ethical and moral system of that time in our cultural history was the “back to the land” movement to get back to our roots and away from the alleged sins of modern society.

From this same movement we got the increased interest in vegetarianism, yoga, natural eating and the environmental movement. So, while we look back with a bit of chagrin on the idealism and sometimes radical values that this era of baby boomer history represents, there are some very good lifestyle choices that came from that era of our shared lives. And the love of gardening is one of the good things we kept from that time.

Gardening is a hobby that is unique among pastimes because virtually nothing bad can come of it. Even if you are a total failure at gardening and don’t produce a single morsel of food from your garden, just the act of working with the earth and making something grow is so therapeutic that it’s worth the effort even if you only grow weeds.

One reason gardening is a wonderful hobby is that it’s simple. But you can get as sophisticated and scientific at it as you please. Gardening is like fishing in the way that even if you are terrible at it, it’s entirely worth doing just for the joy of the time you are out there. There really is nothing comparable in therapy for going out in the garden in the evening after a stressful time at your job. Working with the soil and spending sometime nurturing and pouring your tender loving care into the garden can make those worries and anxieties of the office melt away. Then when you come in after an hour of gardening, those cares take on their proper perspective so you can deal with them.

Gardening in creativity for the uncreative. When you till your garden and prepare your soil, that is like a master painter preparing his paints to produce that masterpiece. But when you finally open the packages of seeds and have that joy of placing them just so in that carefully prepared soil, there is a sensation of making something happen that is new life and wouldn’t have happened because of you that refreshes even the most cynical baby boomer and puts them in touch with themselves and with nature in a way that is hard to match in any other pastime.

Even the simple act of watering the soil has almost a mystical regenerative power for you which is so refreshing that you will look forward to your time with your garden as much as any other part of your day. But when that day comes that you rush out to your garden after work and see those young sprouts come up that you so carefully planted and cared for, it’s a little moment of parenting that can bring real joy to your heart.

We know that we did not create the seed and that we are no more than caregivers in helping that plant sprout and then grow into a healthy fruit, herb or vegetable plant. By becoming part of the cycle of nature when you care for the plants in your garden, it gives you a feeling of completion and connection to God and his creation that could not even be replicated in the best of church services. Even the most hardened atheist will feel that connection to the eternal by simply spending time with the simple plants of the earth and letting them become part of the life he lives.

So don’t be afraid to put together a small plot of land and begin planning your little garden. Even if you are an apartment dweller, you can organize a garden with planter boxes and grow lights and get many of the same joys from your little garden that the master garden with acres of crops can get.

On Not Being Stressed Out

The one thing that virtually all baby boomers have in common is the stress of living in this modern age. So much has changed for baby boomers since they first enjoyed those days of youth culture when hairstyle and rock music seemed like the most important things in the world. But, like all generations before them and to come, baby boomers had to grow up and take on the responsibilities of raising a family, making a living and figuring out their place in this big complicated world.

Stress comes from a lot of sources. Obviously, we get it from work. We think of the work place as a source of stress because it is a place where making a living is paramount and there are daily demands, deadlines and schedules to be met. In addition, most of us have to deal with at least some difficult people during our workdays, which only compounds the stress.

But stresses don’t end when we walk out of our workplace. Traffic itself can be a stress. Then the joys of raising children and marriage can also bring some trials with them as well. It is common to return home from a difficult day only to face serious problems at home. In this situation, it seems that the stress and anxiety just keep mounting up.

This is not the adult life most baby boomers envisioned in their youth days when they were idealistic and the world was their oyster. But nobody told us that the reason the oyster is so beautiful is because it creates stress on the clam who copes with it by covering it with the smooth oyster material. So stress can build us up and make something beautiful. But it can also tear us down and lead to serious medical and mental problems if we don’t develop some coping techniques to deal with it.

Some good coping mechanisms that many baby boomers have found helpful to defray the stress in their lives include…

. Get away from it. To put the cares of the world in perspective, we have to get away from them for a while. If nothing else, just soaking in a hot bathtub with a good magazine and some happy music can wash away the cares of the world and let them swirl down the drain with the bubbles. But look for chances to relax and put those worries aside for a little bit. It will help you calm your mind, rest your system and be ready to deal with those issues without so much anxiety, which doesn’t do anybody any good.

. Partner with your family. Your spouse and children don’t want to see you stressed out. But sometimes they don’t know how much they add to the problems when they throw the problems of the day at you as soon as you walk through the door. It’s good for them to see the world through your eyes. But remember that they are stressed with school or issues of work and relationships too. So partner together to have a little time to just be family and love away that anxiety. Everybody will be better for it.

. Take time for health. Its strange but our diet and rest are the things we need the most to cope with stress and yet those are the areas of life that are most damaged if we let stress wear us down. So go back to basics and make sure you get good meals, good rest and take care of yourself. It will make you a better worker and stronger for your family as well.

Seeing stress as a serious enemy to your lifestyle above and beyond the causes of stress is a big step forward to not letting this enemy continue to damage your ability to be a good worker and family member. But if you take action to keep stress from dominating your life, you are doing something very good for yourself and making yourself more able to attack problems and solve them with the creativity and intelligence people know you for.

Meditation for a Richer Life

Meditation became part of the vernacular of lifestyle choices and a source of a lot of conversation as far back as the 60s for baby boomers when there was a big interest in eastern religions and things that were exotic and new. But while many of the flash in the pan interests in exotic religions during that time frame faded away in the life style of baby boomers, meditation has endured and become a common practice and resource that has benefited this generation in every decade of their lives.

There is a good reason meditation has endured and even grown in popularity far beyond any religious context. Meditation has tremendous benefits for virtually every aspect of life and those who integrate it into their daily lifestyles can experience those benefits virtually as soon as they start. You don’t have to be a guru at meditation to realize benefits from the very first time to give it a try. Some of those benefits include…

. Meditation is calming. Because the act of meditation calls for you to bring your thoughts into captivity and to still your mind and focus it, that sense of your soul being in turmoil eases and you are able to address the cause of your anxiety and see a solution more clearly because your emotions are not clouding the issue.

. Meditation helps you focus and concentrate. The great thing about meditation is that the effects of meditation continue past those few moments when you are meditating. Those few moments of calm create an atmosphere of focus and clarity of thought that goes on throughout your day helping you focus your mind and more easily concentrate when you need to.

. Meditation reduces stress and mental anxiety. So often the stress that comes out of problems and difficulties is dominated by emotional reactions even more than by the problem itself. Meditation clears away the effects of the stress making it easier for you to solve the problem itself.

. Meditation helps reduce physical anxiety. The process of meditation involves extended periods of quiet deep breathing. This simple action floods the brain with oxygen and energizes blood flow throughout the body which refreshes tired muscles and causes your entire physical system to relax and release pent up anxiety.

. Meditation helps you sleep and digest your food. The refreshed blood flow, rich in oxygen that comes from the session of meditation, takes action immediately on the digestive system often reducing or eliminating digestive problems and even easing the symptoms of ulcers. Because the mind is relaxed and well supplied with vital oxygen and blood flow, sleep comes more easily and is more recuperative.

Some successful role models in all walks of life that come out of the baby boomer generation credit meditation to why they are able to accomplish such great things. In addition to all of these benefits, meditation is easy to integrate into your lifestyle and you can go at your own pace learning to become better at meditation and grow in your ability to use it.

Meditation is profoundly easy to do. The image of a meditation practitioner in painful “lotus position” going into a virtual trance is the extreme of the discipline. Because meditation has been adapted so that any of us can benefit from the health benefits it brings, you can begin meditating immediately and see the benefits from the very first session.

Small wonder many baby boomers have continued down through the decades to be enthusiastic proponents of meditation. And there is no reason baby boomers cannot continue to enjoy the tremendous benefits as they move into their late middle age and retirement years as well.

Selling Out

Buying and selling a home is one of those things that baby boomers have learned to deal with in adult life. For many who may have lived in their homes for decades and raised a family there, the physical space can take on tremendous sentimental attachment. As you walk around your home, you can think of a memory for almost every corner and square foot of floor space of that house. But there comes a time when it is time to loosen your grip on the old plantation and prepare to let a new family move in.

For one thing, that home is a significant financial asset to you. If you have been in it for many years, it has almost certainly appreciated in value for you. So as you have paid down the mortgage, more and more of it actually belongs to you and not the bank. It has gotten more and more valuable, as the insurance company is more than happy to inform you.

Upgrading to a new home may be necessary for a baby boomer family as it grows and new needs create the need for more space. Improvements in income and the desire for a nicer living space for entertaining can also create this kind of demand. But as baby boomers move toward their retirement years, one of the biggest reasons they will have for selling their home will be to move to a smaller space or to redeem that financial resource for retirement or for other priorities that are more important than a big spacious house.

Whatever the reason, you want your home to show in its best possible light so the hopeful home shoppers see the wonderful home environment that you already know this house to be and can envision their own family in that house. There are some things you can do to make those moments when they are looking at your house the best experience possible which will put them in the mood to buy.

. Obviously, fix the place up. New paint jobs, replacing worn out cabinets, laying new tile and other improvements you may have been putting off should be done in the weeks and months before you list. This goes for outdoor improvements such as landscaping and gardening improvements. Don’t let the buyer see that they are going to have to put a lot of maintenance into the home up front.

. Keep the house constantly clean and ready to be shown to prospective buyers. This means maintaining a lifestyle where you literally can get up and leave virtually in a moments notice. This is tough but if buyers can come see the house virtually on a moments notice, you will not lose as many prospects.

. Make prospective buyers feel that they are welcome to look around. If you greet them when they come, invite them to enjoy looking around to help them overcome that feeling that they are imposing. Buying a house is as much about how the house feels as the technical features of the structure.

. Think about the senses. Often if they know someone is coming to see the house, its not uncommon for sellers to bake a loaf of fresh bread in the oven. That smell as the home buyer comes in creates a tremendous atmosphere of home. Candles are also pleasant but don’t overdo it. You can even leave out a plate of cookies with a handwritten note saying “help yourself.” Those cookies might just sell the house.

Many of these tips appeal the emotional side of home shopping. But that is as much a part of a buyer’s decision as the importance of good construction and neighborhood. By doing your part to make visitors feel like this is their future home, you go a long way to helping them want to make it so as well.

Working Together for Working Out

Baby boomers are tremendously health conscious. That means that they are, as a group, baby boomers are highly aware of health issues and the need for plenty of exercise and a lifestyle that includes good diet as well. But there is a big difference between being health conscious and becoming active in a healthy lifestyle. Many times we may be well aware of what we SHOULD do to be healthier so we can live a longer and healthier life but following through on those goals is much more difficult than just knowing about them.

This is why having a partner in working out and making healthy decisions can make all the difference in the world. Baby boomers have seen a lot of changes to the marriage relationship occur over the years. This is not just because of women’s liberation. It also comes from huge changes to way the work world functions as well as new parenting models and cultural shifts that have called for a real partnership in a marriage to cope with the new world we live in. That is why the marriage partner is the best possible choice for someone to encourage you along in your path to a healthier lifestyle.

This is a good reason when you do make that New Year’s resolution to start working out and exercising regularly that you don’t keep your decision under your hat. Share your goals of a healthier you with your spouse. Almost certainly you will discover that he or she also has wanted to start a regimen of exercise and a sensible diet but they also were hiding that from you. Why do we do that, even from our marriage partner?

Well part of it is that once you commit to a program of exercise and losing weight and you tell someone about it, you are stuck with going through with it. You take away your backing out factor by giving someone else the opportunity to hold you accountable to your zeal later on when maybe sitting and watching TV is more appealing than hitting the track. But another part of it might be that what a good workout looks like to your spouse may not line up with how you want to exercise. So that independent spirit makes you want to go it alone rather than allow your spouse to hold that office in your life as your work out partner and accountability team member.

These are not very good reasons not to engage your spouse as a partner in a healthier life style. Disclosing to them your intentions is actually the best thing you can do because if you “stick your neck out” and let him or her know what you want to do, you will be accountable to do that next week, next month and routinely throughout the year until you hit your goals. You will regret your decision when you feel your spouse is forcing you to go to the gym but you will celebrate your decision when you are coming home from the gym and you feel great from having a great workout.

Working as a team for a healthy lifestyle and weight loss is crucial when it comes to diet. Exercise is great and even if you don’t lose any weight, starting and continuing an exercise program is good for aging bones and muscles and improves stamina. You will be delighted when you actually can squat down to pick up something off the floor and stand up again without help after a few weeks of exercise.

But if you are going to seriously lose weight, you have to change your diet as well. And that is impossible to do unless the spouse is helping you. If both members of the marriage commit to a diet of healthy foods, eliminating deserts, chips and soft drinks and making foods from fresh ingredients, then you can keep each other on track by only allowing those foods in the house.

This is good for both of you. And as you see the scale report that you are actually losing weight for the first time in many years, you will have someone to celebrate with that the program is working. Make it a healthy celebration but a joyful one because you both deserve it.

Defining Marriage All Over Again

Marriage is a funny thing. How you view it is drastically different if you are a teenager or youth with stars in your eyes compared to your vision of marriage when you have been ensconced in the practice for 20-30 years and looking toward a life in retirement as a married couple. Baby boomers have experienced every aspect of marriage from that early idealistic stage through divorces, various redefinitions of marriage and now taking their marriages into their retirement years. It may be that this next transition of marriage will bring as many changes to that special relationship as any that have gone before.

How you view marriage as you move toward your retirement years without a doubt depends on how marriage has gone for you over the decades. If marriages are rocked with difficulty, separations and other woes, retirement can bring a new dimension to that tension. On the other hand, part of the commission of retirement is to begin to seek resolution of life’s struggles so working together with each other in the context of marriage can bring tremendous healing in this phase of life.

Each era of life seems to bring a new opportunity to define marriage and how it will be an important part of life. When the baby boomer generation became parents, the shift was notable as retailers responded to their emphasis on being good moms and dads and away from youthful issues to some extent. Then as baby boomers moved through parenting and into the empty nest phase of life, that seemed to bring as many challenges as when that nest filled up with children decades before.

There is no question that real life in the context of a very real and functional marriage, even with the problems that brings is also a huge resource for us throughout life’s journey. While sometimes the romance can escape from the marriage relationship if life brings struggles and as our bodies go through changes, that partnership and intimacy of relationship is an incredible resource for coping with the big changes all baby boomers have had to face over the years.

This is the good thing about hanging in there with that marriage until you get to the stage of life most baby boomers are moving toward in this decade. The things that can rob a marriage of romance during the working part of your married years are the coming of children, the hard work of raising them, keeping a career moving forward in the tough business settings we have experienced in the last three decades and seeing your own relationship evolve under that kind of “pressure cooker” environment.

But a significant amount of those pressures begin to lift when you are able to perhaps scale back the work life, enjoy the fruits of your labors and let the kids get out on their own. So that side of the pre-retirement years can actually be a fertile setting for a new romantic life between husband and wife to spring up. Many couples, as they leave the world of parenting behind, experience such late in life romantic rebirths. And this kind of late springtime in your relationship with your long time spouse can bring the birth of new creativity in many parts of your life making it one of the happiest phases of life for you and your husband or wife.

A marriage gets tested throughout youth and middle age and marriages that survive do so because of mutual support and the ability to accept the other member of the marriage and compromise. Since these traits will be well established in your relationship as you move into your fifties and sixties together, they will be a continuous resource to you as you face retirement issues, dealing with being a grandparent and being wise counsel for children who are facing life’s struggles for the first time.

But baby boomers should not be surprised if they see their marriages continue to change, grow and mature in new directions as each partner explores this phase of life for the first time as well. A marriage is a living thing so we can take joy from seeing it become something new each new decade as, as we have done often in the past, we start defining marriage all over again.

Next Stop Retirement

It seems almost absurd for baby boomers to think about retirement as the next stop in their long and eventful lives. But the absurd has become a reality. As the baby boomer generation moves into their mid fifties and sixties, that specter of retirement looms ever closer. So it抯 natural and appropriate to sit back and review exactly what that means to each of us.

For many, the traditional attitude toward retirement has been one of joy. The concept of laying down your worries and bringing your work life to a comfortable end is something to look forward to. The image of a life of sleeping late, golfing as much as you wish, taking up two or three hobbies and living a life of leisure is an idyllic vision in our minds for sure.

But the reality of retirement can also be a source of anxiety and fear. If the baby boomer who approaches that threshold is not financially prepared or the affairs and concerns of their work lives are not ready to be set aside, the idea of having go retire simply due to age seems to be a harsh and an unpleasant prospect. In both of these visions of a future retirement, we are probably working under as much myth as we are reality about what it will be like to retire. But one thing baby boomers are good at is debunking myths and defying conventional wisdom and defining each era of their lives in their own terms.

We can expect the same as baby boomers move into retirement. This is a generation that did not have the benefit of employers who were loyal to employees and kept the same staff from college through their retirement party and from whom they could expect a hefty retirement package. But boomers are not the kind of generation that lets things sneak up on them. Working with such excellent organizations as AARP, there are resources and options baby boomers can tap into to create a secure financial future despite the lack of participation by past employers.

But as with all other phases of life however, financial security is not what makes life worthwhile all by itself. And as baby boomers see retirement coming at their next stop, another myth that has to go is that retirement is the end of the productive part of life. This image of living a life of leisure, never working and letting others take care of us is not necessarily a healthy approach to retirement any more than it would be at any other phase of life.

Human beings are at their best when they are useful, creative, productive and pursuing a dream. It has been shown time and time again that when a senior citizen can no longer be part of something larger than themselves and see themselves as productive in life, their will to live declines with the inevitable result of an end of life that is earlier than it has to be. So the financial demand that some baby boomers face that they may have to work on into what is considered to be the 搑etirement years?may have a hidden blessing of extending their lives in a healthy way because these will the baby boomers who know they must stay fit and active because, just like always, they have to get up and go to work.

For those who do lay down their labors at retirement age, second careers are often a great way for aging baby boomers to not only create a second revenue stream but to pursue a career path that had always been a dream in life. Another alternative as well for staying active and useful in retirement is to become passionate about a cause in life that has always been important to you.

Baby boomers have always been a people driven by causes. So what better way for baby boomers to use their retirement than to become activists to make a difference in the world, just as they did in youth when they did so much to make a difference? The world will be a better place for their involvement and the retired baby boomer will live a happier senior life as well.

Creating Retirement Wealth

As baby boomers are rapidly approach what used to be defined as “retirement age”, a big concern often comes up about whether there will be enough retirement savings in place to be able to live a comfortable life later in life. There have been plenty of rumbles from Washington that the Social Security system will not be able to bear up under the huge demand the boomer generation will put on it. So few baby boomers are looking to depend on that money being there, even though we are all paying into it every month.

On top of that worry, the method our parents used of working for the same company for 50 years and retiring with a hefty financial package and a gold watch has gone the way of the dinosaurs. Long ago corporate America began to eliminate retirement packages as a straight forward benefit. So many baby boomers find themselves approaching retirement age with insufficient retirement monies to support them. What is needed is a solid plan to attack this problem while boomers still have a good 10 to 15 years of working potential in them. Some principles of that plan might be…

Simplify Your Life.

When the kids finish college and get out on their own, you may find your life could be simplified considerably. You might not need as big a house and many of the extras that were important when you raising a family in that house. Do a thorough review of your assets and your expenses. You will find you can cut costs significantly and even begin to cash in on some of the extras you have had all these years and put all of those savings into the bank as a hedge for the day when you are ready to retire.

Pack the Bank Account Now.

The empty nest syndrome isn’t all bad. There are some real benefits to returning to a lifestyle of just you and your spouse discovering life together. You have conquered many challenges raising a family in this tough world and you deserve to be proud of your life of accomplishment. But now you and your spouse can take on a big challenge that is just for you which is to get out there and generate income for retirement.

Mom can go back to work and both members of the union can take on as much work as can be found. Often in the mid to late fifties, the primary bread winner may be able to retire from that job they have held down for several decades. But instead of beginning to live off of retirement funds, get another career going that can generate another ten to fifteen years of income. With good budget management, it’s very likely you will be able to bank at least one entire income if not more and put all of that money back into retirement.

Working with your investment counselors you can find ways to shelter that extra income so it stays out of the tax system until you are ready to use it. The good news is that this push for productivity and revenue generation late in life can lead to a healthy retirement budget that can benefit you well as you finally sit back to enjoy your leisure years in the rocking chair taking care of the grandkids.

Identify a Money Generator that Can Stay With You

There are second careers that you can find that will become a good source of supplemental revenue even after you retire. Start now looking for a potential “retirement career” which will be a line of work you can do even after you retire to generate additional income for you. Writing or internet work is a good way to set up a home based business that you can continue to work at as long as you can type, see reasonably well and your thinking capacity is sound.

Other examples of retirement careers are part time jobs as apartment managers or care givers, sales jobs in using the expertise from your primary career or jobs that are somewhat non-taxing such as greeting customers at a Wal-Mart or working in a book store. And these retirement jobs have the double benefit of adding to your revenue resources and keeping you active and enjoying life in your retirement years. And that is what all of us want.

Looking Young and Feeling Young

Baby boomers may not have a corner on the market for an urgent desire to stay youthful but they certainly have set a high standard for creating a virtual avalanche of products and services to attend to that need. The quest to look young in baby boomers has resulted in an explosion of profits in the cosmetic and plastic surgery markets. It’s easy to criticize the desire of baby boomers to want to see themselves as youthful as simple vanity. But it goes a lot deeper than that.

It doesn’t take a lot of research or analysis to see that baby boomers grounded their identities in the youth movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Before the boomer generation erupted like a generational volcano, there really was no youth movement. But in the 1960s, when youth culture virtually took over American and indeed world culture, everything changed for baby boomers and that change was never really reversed.

The culture of that time that now seems very long ago, was one of the adoration of youth. That desire to put age on a pedestal and worship everything about being young has permeated the culture even as the boomer generation moved into middle age and now is on the verge of creating the largest retirement generation ever.

Not all of the youth worship that is easy to document in baby boomers is just about looking sexy and dreading the physical changes of growing older. Some of what boomer’s love about the concept of youth has to do with the idealism and the commitment to causes that is common in young people. The desire to change the world and to be a force to make mankind better was part of what made the new youth culture in the 1960s so unique. And because those values are laudable, we really can’t completely condemn the desire by baby boomers to stay youthful.

So the quest to stay young often manifests itself in cosmetic attempts to look young. You can almost understand the appeal. We all like to look good. But the real source of youth is not a tight butt and abs and smooth, wrinkle free skin. The phrase “you are as young as you feel” is often scoffed at by baby boomers as a cheap cop out. And it can be used to have an excuse to behave younger than you are and perhaps want to socialize with younger people in an inappropriate way. But it can also reflect that an inner youthfulness which is fueled by a youthful outlook on life and a basic policy of good health and exercise will keep anyone spy and vital well into their senior years.

It is when baby boomers combine those elements of “inner youthfulness’ with their cosmetic efforts to stay young that they really do retain much of their youth beyond what their years would report. We all have met an elderly man or woman who is so full of life and fun that they leave you feeling older than they are. The sparkle in the eye, the curiosity about everything life has to offer and that optimism and idealism that you ordinarily associate with teenagers is truly inspiring when it is being expressed by a senior citizen.

This is the real youth movement that the baby boomer generation is pioneering. It is more than dying the hair or using Botox and wrinkle creams. It is about being strong role models to the youth coming up that they don’t have to give up on their dreams and that their idealism and excitement in living can thrive no matter what age they are. And if that is the legacy of the baby boomer generation, it’s a fine ethic for them to leave behind for future generations to enjoy.