Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I spend way too much time reading online and have an under-desk stepper to use while online. Too distracting to use if reading a real book. I do Pilates twice a week, gym weights twice a week, and hope to have some home Pilates exercises soon to do at home. I have very low energy as I approach 71 and worry about health a lot.
I am sorry you lost your mom... that is harsh even if she was 91 and had a very easy death. Regarding books, I also think that reading them all the time is not ideal for a young person (who should be developing various productive skills), but book addiction is fabulous for people not required, or not able, to do productive work. It is not dangerous to your health, it does not bother or harm other people, it costs nothing if the sole source of books is the public library (and costs relatively little even if you buy books), and it usually makes you a more thoughtful person. If only all other addictions could be replaced by addiction to reading (even if reading for pleasure is mostly not materially productive)!
Disagree about reading. During school breaks, I'd have my nose buried in books morning till night. I read all of Heinlein, even those he wrote under a pseudonym. Devoured Asimov and Clarke, Sheckley and Nivian. Mom thought it was unhealthy. She kicked me out of the house, but I just went down to the library and discovered Pournell. It supercharged my imagination and the ability to express myself. I use it everyday when I write grants and research proposals. I usually win them.
[The big downside to reading is how inactive it is as an "activity." I can't help but think how much healthier it would be to be on the move all the time.
/QUOTE]
Your brain burns about 500 calories daily. So when you're reading and growing your brain, it's keeping you healthy by burning about 20% of your daily calories.
I have been participating in this forum for 16 years(and I believe much longer). I am now 81. Financially I am doing just fine....very conservative in my spending my entire life. I have enough money but I have always been able to entertain myself without spending much. I was married for 50 years. Husband passed 7 years ago. My biggest challenge: staying involved with people. I work at doing engaging activities...I do mean work at it. I hate idle junk-filled pastime. I refuse to do bingo or coloring. I do yoga, I attend any lecture regarding gardens, nature, or the solar system. I volunteer at a nature center doing interpretation. Three lady friends go with me to explore backroads and ghost towns in central Texas. I babysit. I write in a journal each day. I do have some aches and pains but nothing is worst than sitting around with old people who never read, never have an opinion, are afraid of everything. I refuse to go the many, many health-system sponsored lectures about stomach, heart, knees, etc. I do exactly what my doctor tells me to do and then I do not worry about my health. I love retirement.
I retired around 7-ish years ago. Started collecting my SS benefit at 62. It was great, but there are only so many times you can clean the house and walk the dog!
I missed interacting with people, and I was bored, so I got a part time job. I enjoy the fact that I can leave if I feel it gets to be too much. In the meantime, I enjoy my little 25 hour a week cashiering job. It’s not making me rich, but it’s paying my car note.
One thing I did just before retiring was try to think of the one or two people who most singularly affected my life to the better. There were so many. Relatives, friends, and even people who might not have necessarily "liked" me.
After thinking about it for a while I finally settled on the one person who above all, had put me on a path to what I consider success in both marriage and my "professional" life.
Through a mutual friend I was able to find this person with whom I had been fairly close years before and who helped me get my start in my career of 40+ years. I wrote this friend a hear-felt letter expressing my deep appreciation for his actions changing my life for the better 40 years ago. I did so not expecting a reply because really, I just wanted him to know how much he meant to me. He did reply with a nice Thank You letter.
I urge everyone to think back to that one person in their lives who changed the course and let them know how very thankful you are of their help and the blessing it is to have known them.
Now I just enjoy being retired and do what I want.
Josie13, you struck a chord here. I’ve also had to plan things into my schedule to get away from curling up in a deep chair with a book (now almost always an ebook) all my waking hours. There are plenty of things I enjoy, just not as much as reading. The making yourself stick to a schedule that incorporates some exercise also is on my agenda. After all, we have to stay healthy enough to live and read another day, huh? I add an hour for music and try to do some social activity each day. If nothing else, I’ll take my book and eat lunch out, which at least gets me saying hello to people and having a few other people around.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
