MAY 11 GROWN UP CONVERSATIONS with JUNE DOYLE

Retirement is “The Second Half of Life”

Someone said: “The second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half.”

The first half of our years are spent finding our purpose to life and the ways we can grow and evolve into the best person who we could possibly be.

When the second half of our lives comes along and things aren’t quite like they used to be, it will reveal our true and authentic self whatever that looks like.

We were once young and innocent. We were once strong and did reckless things. We were once fast and curious.

In the second half of life we simply want to enjoy all the things we never had time to do in the first half of our years. No alarms are necessary. No competitions. Just to reap the benefits of our investments.

“Goodbye Tension. Hello Pension.” 😂

In 1964 Muhammad Ali formerly Cassius Clay in a fight with Sonny Liston was asked how he would approach the bout with the “unbeatable” world heavyweight champion.

He responded: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

Muhammad Ali was a very boastful and confident boxer that walked the talk. He was quick on his feet dancing around but yet managing to give a powerful punches that knocked his opponent out like a dead bee.

He was definitely unbeatable. But one day he said, “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”

As retirees, we must purpose to live our best life without apologies because our training days are over.

Retirement is not the end but the beginning of living life doing what we want, when we want, and how we want.

God has already decided whether we will live for a long time or for a short time. He knows the number of months that we will live. And we cannot change that.

So let’s make the rest of our life, the best days of our lives.

In the SECOND HALF OF LIFE we are pretty much doing stuff without putting much thought into it because we have done it so many times before. We turn the stove on and off. We throw laundry into the machine and knows just how much time we have left to go back and take them out.

Another one of Muhammad Ali’s quotes I find interesting is, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”

Let’s be intentional about serving others. There will always be someone in our circle who need some kind of help. We can’t be everything to everyone but we can at least help someone.

It’s the rent we are paying for our space here on earth.

Everyone has something to give – a smile, a kind word, a gesture, or send an encouraging message.

If we keep doing things for ourselves without giving back – we will lose our joy.

Abraham Lincoln said, “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

Here’s a story:

“A woman looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two strands of hair on her head. “Hm…mm..,” she said, “I think I’ll part my hair down the middle today.” So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one strand of hair on her head. “Well,” she said, “Today I’m going to wear my hair in a pony tail.” So she did, and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn’t a single hair on her head. “YAY!” she exclaimed. “I don’t have to fix my hair today!”

Moral of the story is: The way you speak to yourself matters. Life is better when you are laughing.

Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.

Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

The dash is the representation of life. Something that comes between our birth and our death. Let’s make that little dash count. It is more important to consider how we lived that dash … instead of how long we lived.

The 2nd half comes to an end quicker than we think. God made us all with a void. That emptiness is a wake-up call to go to God, who is the only One who can turn emptiness into fullness.

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

As we continue to place our trust in God, He will continue to fill our heart with joy, peace, and a hope that overflows into our tomorrows.