Our life plans need New Year’s resolutions
I’m not sure where the need for New Year’s resolutions comes from. Maybe from within the soul. The soul looks inside itself and sees a need for more connectivity, more meaning.
I can tell you that I believe resolutions are important, especially as we get older and more introspective.
Resolutions give us a feeling of focus and meaning in our lives. We examine how we can be of value and extend the personal work we’ve done throughout our lives and careers.
New Year’s resolutions come from a couple of directions, I’ve found — those suggested to us by our spouses, family and friends. These are other people’s ideas about how we should change for the better.
And then there are the resolutions we identify ourselves.
It’s our personal resolutions — the ones that come from true self-examination and asking ourselves hard questions — that count.
Are New Year’s resolutions trivial or meaningful? We all need plans and direction in our lives, especially in our later years. Resolutions are at the core of personal plans. We need them as a constant reminder of our life achievements and the many contributions yet to be made.
Nothing better than senior volunteerism
I am asked often by baby boomers and seniors for ideas on what’s next. They wonder what meaningful project, job or contribution they can pursue, now that they’ve retired from a career. My answer is always fairly simple: Follow your passion.
I am reminded of a woman who lived at an Erickson Retirement Community and had just lost her husband. Her name was Muriel Caufield, and her husband was Clarence Caufield, a former editor of the Baltimore Sun. At age 75, Muriel told me that she had been a teacher and a wife, and that now that her husband had died, her work was done.
John Erickson
I said, “Oh, no, I don’t agree.” I pointed out a young man working at the retirement community who, at age 17, still did not know how to read.
Well, Muriel took him under her wing, tutoring him on reading skills several times each week. That young man went on to gain a college degree.
That’s all it took for her to realize that her life’s work was far from being complete. And she continued teaching as a volunteer for another 20 years.
Most of us have valuable knowledge, experience and skills that can be shared, particularly later in our lives when we have more free time. The trick is simply to think about what gets us personally excited and find a way to share that passion with others.
How are you sharing your passion with others? I would love to hear your stories.
The election is over. Now what?
I can’t say that I was surprised by the outcome of November’s midterm election.
A month ago, I predicted that the 55-and-older set would turn out in droves to the voting polls, raising their frustrated, angry, anxious voices in an attempt to be heard. I told you that a “silver tsunami” would sweep away politicians who hadn’t paid attention to the voice of maturity.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Post-election results showed that the younger vote was way down. Just as I expected, younger voters — who aren’t as rooted and familiar with their Congressional representatives — didn’t turn out as they had in the 2008 election.
John Erickson
But seniors did. And they didn’t necessarily vote as they traditionally have. In this election, they couldn’t be pigeonholed as merely “red” or “blue.” They were voting with a mandate for significant change. Many politicians who would have liked to go back to Congress were pushed out. Seniors pulled the ticket on them, telling them, “No — not on our watch!”
In their votes, we saw that what seniors want is meaningful change on the two issues they care about most — health care and Social Security.
They aren’t going to sit by idly while a broken Social Security system threatens to fail on them — and their children and grandchildren. And they’re mad as heck to see legislators peck away at Medicare funding.
This is a tough time for America. When seniors see their adult children unemployed and struggling to stay afloat, they’re upset. This isn’t the America of years ago, the America that seemed stable. People are genuinely worried.
The big question is: What happens next? We got our message across. Now we’re waiting to see whether the new arrivals to Congress will organize themselves and accomplish something. We’re wondering whether those who did get a return ticket to Congress are rolling up their sleeves.
Unfortunately, I don’t see anyone approaching seniors’ top-priority issues with a sense of vision or thoughtful debate yet. We’re already back to snarky sound bites. One thing is for sure: The issues of Social Security and health care won’t be solved with sound bites.
I hope that through regular town-hall programs on RLTV, as well as other media and AARP efforts, we can keep the pressure on Congress. We can keep informing people. And keep focusing our lens on the issues.
If you want to see more about the content I’m talking about, you can watch the RLTV’s News Desks and National Forums on RL.TV or if you’re a Time Warner Cable customer they are archived on your local Time Warner Cable VOD lineup.
In times of crisis, our government has produced some pretty good thinking. Our leaders have always stepped up. I’m still waiting to see what this Congress will do — and I expect other seniors are, too.
If all we hear are sound bites, we can be sure that substantive change isn’t coming. And legislators can be sure that the two-year cycle of elections will come back to bite them.
Senior boom faces a caregiving bust
It promises to be the next big health crisis facing America. And it’s going to strike in the next 10 to 20 years, as the senior population balloons from the current 40 million to 80 million.
It’s a crisis of caregiving.
As nearly 80 million Baby Boomers phase into their retirement years, the challenge of caregiving — which is already difficult — will become downright impossible. Because the fact is, there’s no way this country will have enough service people to support the needs of this generation.
John Erickson
Think about it: What happens when, eventually, 80 million seniors can no longer cut their own grass, drive themselves or get dressed? Who’s going to help deliver medication and provide in-home health support? Who do you think will pick up that burden?
Those 80 million retirees and their family caregivers will soon discover that service workers — the ones who have traditionally provided such support services to the aging — are either in short supply or too expensive for most people to afford.
The crisis is, in part, a result of a convergence of trends: the population imbalance between aging Americans and young Americans, and the tightening of immigration policy.
Right now, we rely on relatively minimally skilled, low-wage individuals for a lot of these services for the aging. For example, you might have a housekeeper who gradually transitions into caregiving, taking on more hours and days, because she’s already known to a family. Often these are folks who immigrated into the United States.
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