I am teaching a management class at a local college and in my lesson today I brought in a half dozen different management books from my library. One of the books I choose was called, “First You Have To Row Little Boat.”
It is written by Richard Bode and it is a book about how you steer a course through life and its difficulties while keeping your sails filled with wind. It has a lot of great analogies comparing his love of sailing and how it relates to life’s issues.
I think the best analogy is that a person doesn’t just go out and sail a 70 foot yacht who has never been on the water before. You have to start out small, learn how to row, how to steer and deal with a vehicle that has no brakes.
You have to learn to deal with unexpected weather, currents, inaccurate charts, and other things that could derail your trip. Its like the third phase of your life. Many people plan on retiring at 65 and think that the only planning you have to do is financial.
This unfortunately is far from the truth. It helps if you start out by doing what you think you want to do in retirement.
Then if both you and your spouse enjoy it, move on to taking longer trips, vacations, doing more gardening, painting more pictures or whatever else floats both of your boat.
I grieve when I hear about college friends who are getting divorced after they retire because they no longer have shared interests. What one wants to do the other doesn’t.
It is also distressing when one spouse suddenly develop Alzheimer’s or Dementia and suddenly, in the third phase of life and all the plans set aside for the day of retirement are no longer possible.
Life is a banquet, like any good party it is best enjoyed in the moment and not put off to some “Perfect Time.” You have lots of types of parties out there and if you start now you can explore what ones are of interest to you and your spouse.
The third phase of life, the returning phase is your chance to seize that opportunity. Are you a symbol of hope and inspiration to those around you? Do you wonder what you can give to help those who follow you?
Is your life message inspiring to all those around you? If you have struggled with these questions and issues then Patterson2Y2R should be a place you should visit.
Share your stories and challenges. I have an ear that would love to hear your stories. Let’s taste the real meaning of life. I am still working on my course with a goal of launching a starter course by June 30th, and I will keep you abreast as to how the process goes.
If you want to participate in this process and join my first class please send me an email to www.bobchuckpatterson@yahoo.com
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