Retirement...that magical time when all of our dreams come true! We are conditioned to work through the prime of our lives, building up this pile of money, then when we finally reach that magical age when the kids are on their own, we get to go do aaalll the things we've dreamed of doing. You know, the pictures we've looked at for forty years on our cubicle wall hoping and waiting for.
But there's a problem, several actually. We're not as young as we used to be. The dreams we had when we were 25 are not entirely possible at 65. We contributed to our retirement fund and the stock market didn't pay out like it was supposed to. We're now on a fixed income and to qualify for the meager amount that we've stockpiled for 40 years, we're not allowed to supplement. All the dreaming and planning was for nothing.
It's a rigged system and I refuse to be part of it. I will never retire. I figured this out at age 40 and decided to screw the system and start living my life while I still could.
Here are my top 3 reasons why I won't retire and what I'm doing instead
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Huggers are happier people. As a non-hugger, introvert who would rather be by myself reading a book, I can see the truth in this. I am content by myself, but content is not the same as happy. When I began to be intentional about giving hugs, it magically changed me!
We need human contact to survive
A little girl named Brittany proved this to me. When I met Brittany, she was 13 years old. She was placed in the foster care program after they found her neglected in a crib in a drug house. For FOUR YEARS she was left in that crib, never picked up and rocked, never allowed to run around. They basically propped up a bottle and left her there.
Brittany’s adopted mother was the most amazing person I’ve met. You see, Brittany was in a wheel chair and wasn’t expected to have a very long life. Her mother adopted her and committed to showing her absolute love for what little time she had left.
Our happy hormones run on solar power. Just like the solar panels on your house, our skin soaks up the rays and creates the chemicals in our body that are responsible for boosting our mood.
The simple act of standing in the sunlight for 15 minutes each day can do SO MUCH including:
- Increasing vitamin D production
- Helping you sleep better
- Improving your mood
- Strengthening bones
- Lower blood pressure
What do you do when the sun isn't shining?
In the winter months when we have decreased sunlight, many people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. Since we are not exposed to sunlight, our vitamin D and serotonin tend to decrease. There are a few options to turn your frown upside down.
If you want to change the world, start by making your bed. This is one of my favorite motivational speeches by … He is SPOT ON with this advice.
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We've all had those days where nothing seems to go right. You start out stubbing your toe on the bed and it goes downhill from there. But, what if I told you that I had a secret magic trick to turn it all around? It's a simple trick, but not always easy to do.
