Getting Old: Realities of Retirement (Part 2)
continued from Part 1 of 14 Jan 2020
In your retirement, you;
9) Sometimes look at your former uniform/regalia, work tools, with all the medals, clock/TV won, you’ve this feeling of emptiness. It’s because you’re not occupying you at retirement. Get yourself occupied, so long as you breathe.
10) Observe traveling is great adventure. Visit places of interests and enjoy your travels. Schedule it. Embark on them. Don’t wait for invitations. ‘Oyigbo’ call it ‘world tour’. It doesn’t mean visiting 5 continents, but one town or country for sight seeing, weekend, week stay, shopping, flexing, adventure, etc.
11) Eat right, enjoy your meals but play down on excessive consumption of alcohol, sugar, salt, fats and oils. Be medically informed to avoid walking in and out of hospitals every now and then: it’s too bad being ageing sickly. Remember your strength via blood and cells rejuvenation are not as rapid in replacement as it used to be when you’re younger. Love, sharpen and care for your organs: liver, kidney, lungs, genitals, teeth/tongue, mouth, etc.
12) Do your medical check-up even when you feel healthy. Don’t wait to be sick. It can get chronic if you wait for sign of being sick before going for checkup.
More Blunt: Bear With Me
These are blunt truth. At old age, you begin to appreciate your mistakes and victories, failures and successes, bravery and cowardice.
Why?
You can think better now: without uncaged unbalanced excitements, juvenile delinquencies and spirits, and uncontrollable, strong nerves, ‘erections’ and ‘wetness’. You can sit down now and see what thousands standing up can not see.
Why?
You don’t see with eyes (eyeballs), you see with mind (mindframe).
My Sharp-Sharp Advice
MAKE HASTE WHILE THE SUN SHINE
How?
Take these few steps:
1. Build your own house where you will live in your old age and possibly be buried.
Don’t be stupid to know that you’ll live and be buried at old age, for instance in Owerri and you go and build a house in Rio De Janero, Brazil having none in Owerri.
2. Build businesses that will feed you in your old age. Stop investing ONLY in children as retirement benefit/program. (Don’t get me wrong please!)
Can i shock you? Stop seeing training your children as retirement strategy; see it as your ‘obligation’ and ‘responsibility’. If it workouts well (with your prayers) they remember you, Glory Be To God. (But yours will remember you in Jesus name).
If not, you age gracefully. Remember good parents provide heritage/inheritance to their children. THESE DAYS CHILDREN CRAZILY FALL IN LOVE AND ABANDON THEIR PARENTS. DON’T BE A VICTIM.
3. *Create conveniences that will engage you in your old age*.
You will not understand the gift of good wife until old age. Also the wisdom of a younger one* (in case you’re yet to marry). You don’t need to age at same degree with your spouse, otherwise nobody will assist the other! Then you need salaried nurse. Are you having a soured marriage make it lemonade sweet, so that stronger but aggrieved partner will not give shit (as jellof beans) to eat.
4. Build friendship and goodwill that will serve you in your old age.
Dont continue to be a ‘roughian, crook, con man, aggressive person’ even at old age. These vices ought to have been overgrown with ageing.
5. Right now, start to be relevant in your Church/mosque and community so you could be reckoned with in your old age.
Start evangelism or soul winning, young couple home-building, new-wife homemaking counselling, in- and out- side church ministry and cleaning, etc.
See you at Part 3.
-Mike Ihezuo
