Retirement Home Lessons

If you ever want a different perspective on things in your life, go visit a retirement home!   Here you will quickly realize that you already have the most enviable thing possible and that is T-I-M-E. 

“Money is replaceable and time isn’t, hence time is more valuable” – just ask a senior - what do you do with all that money when you get old?  You can buy a nice place to live with people who can help you but you really don’t need that much money because you probably can’t do the things you could earlier. 

After getting to know many of the residents and hearing their stories I soon realized that the residents could be placed into two separate groups.  The first group is mostly happy and content as they have lived a good life and at this point, the retirement home is fine.  They live on their memories and can spend hours looking a photos and telling stories about their adventures.   The other group is the unhappy group, they have many regrets and are often angry and resentful - realizing that at this stage it is too late to make changes. Every day when I left work I would think about how I would want to feel about life if I lived to the age of 88.  I want to live a life with lots of experiences, lots of laughs and lots of love – this is what will sustain us later in life when things slow down.

I also realized that for the residents who did not have many visitors that it was not necessarily the family or their friends fault.  If you have spent too much time working and not playing and building friendships nothing magical is going to happen when you get old.  If you have distant relationships with your family this is not suddenly going to change for the better when you get old.  You reap what you sow in your life time, especially when you get old.

Here are some lessons I learned awhile ago, think about it and ask yourself if you do this:

• If you want to HAVE a happy marriage you have to BE the kind of person who generates positive energy and laughter.  Be supportive, interested and giving of your time and affection.
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  If you want to HAVE a more pleasant, cooperative teenager, BE a more understanding, empathic, consistent, loving parent.
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  If you want to HAVE more freedom, more latitude in your job, BE a more responsible, a more helpful, a more contributing employee.
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  If you want to BE trusted, BE trust-worthy.
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  If you want to BE loved, BE loving.
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  If you want to BE rich, BE careful with spending money.

I tried to evaluate myself and asked myself the questions from above.  Am I a good spouse?  Do I show love every day?  Do I speak of Kevin lovingly and respectfully?  Do I get the same back from him?

First, give what you want to receive, it's as easy as that.

You can contact me at this email link: greaterlivinginstitute@gmail.com