03/18/11 - NNHS Newsletter
I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover

“If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover,
is he entitled to happiness?”

 - Stanislaw Jerzy Lec
(06 Mar 1906 - 07 May 1966)

Our biggest retirement concern was time management.  What were we going to do all day? Let me assure you, passing the time is not a problem. Your days will be eaten up by simple, daily activities.  Just getting out of your car takes 15 minutes.  Trying to find where you parked takes 20 minutes. It takes 1/2 hour on the check-out line in and one hour to return the item the next day. 

Let me take you through a typical day. We get up at 5:00 AM, have a quick breakfast and join the early morning 'Walk and Talk Club.' There are about 30 of us, and rain or shine we walk around the streets, all talking at once. Every development has some late risers who stay in bed until 6 AM. After a nimble walk avoiding irate drivers out to make us road kill, we go back home, shower and change for the next activity.   

My wife goes directly to the pool for her underwater Pilate’s class, followed by gasping for breath and CPR. I put on my 'Ask me about my Grandchildren' T-shirt, my plaid mid-calf shorts, my black socks and sandals and go to the clubhouse lobby for a nice nap.  

Before you know it, it's time for lunch. We go to  to partake of the many tasty samples dispensed by ladies in white hairnets.  All free!  After a filling lunch, if we don't have any doctor appointments, we might go to the flea market to see if any new white belts have come in or to buy a Rolex watch for $2.00. 

Doctor related activities eat up most of your retirement time.  I enjoy reading old magazines in subzero temperatures in the waiting room, so I don't mind.  Calling for test results also helps the days fly by. It takes at least half an hour just getting through the doctor's phone menu. Then there's the hold time until you're connected to the right party. Sometimes they forget you're holding, and the whole office goes off to lunch. 

Should you find you still have time on your hands, volunteering provides a rewarding opportunity to help the less fortunate.  Florida has the largest concentration of seniors under five feet tall and they need our help. I myself am a volunteer for 'The Vertically Challenged Over 80.'  I coach their basketball team, The Arthritic Avengers.  

The hoop is only 4.5 feet from the floor.  You should see the look of confidence on their faces when they make a slam dunk.   

Food shopping is a problem for short seniors or 'bottom feeders' as we call them, because they can't reach the items on the upper shelves. There are many foods they've never tasted.  After shopping, most seniors can't remember where they parked their cars and wander the parking lot for hours while their food defrosts.   

Lastly, it's important to choose a development with an impressive name.  Italian names are very popular in Florida.  They convey world traveler, uppity sophistication and wealth.  Where would you rather live?  Murray 's Condos or The Lakes Of Venice?  There's no difference.  They're both owned by Murray, who happens to be a cheapskate.  

I hope this material has been of help to you future retirees. If I can be of any further assistance, please look me up when you're in Florida.  I live in The Leaning Condos of Pisa On Boynton Beach. 

By Karin Volo

Most people are their own worst critic, unfortunately. We have an inner dialogue with ourselves that is continually judging, criticizing, comparing, and putting down anything that you do. Sometimes we are aware of this but mostly the dialogue is running on autopilot. Often it's the only voice we hear with us so we think it's perfectly normal. Between when we are born up to the age of 6 or 7, we are a totally blank slate and are like a recording machine, absorbing what we hear and see from our environment. After that age, we start to have our own opinions and begin our own conscious thinking...but the foundation of how we react to situations has already been set. This becomes our belief system or programming within our subconscious thinking. The environment we grow up in is crucial to our future success--or lack of success. The good news is that we are discovering ways that we can reprogram our brains and there are many experts now teaching about this and also how to bypass the consciousness to change beliefs systems that are deeply rooted in the subconscious.

I mention all of this because we need to understand that we all have our own unique talents that we are meant to work with, and because we are so often our worst internal critics, it can be hard to identify these unique talents. When you start to identify your talents, be aware of the inner critic and tame that voice down. You deserve to understand really why you are here and what you are meant to contribute. Discovering your unique talents is a part of that process.

These talents are things that you do so well and naturally, that you may not even be fully aware of them yourself. It's just a part of who you are. And it is very likely you've been doing these things since your childhood. There are a several ways to really figure out your uniqueness and I'll cover a few ways here.

The first way is to think about your life and what have you loved to do. What comes naturally to you that you really enjoy doing? It's easy and you feel good whenever you are engaged in these activities. When have you felt that things have gone really well in your life and what were you doing at that time? What have been the best moments in your life and why? Start a list of all the activities, events, or situations where you have felt really good about what you were doing.

Next, ask people who know you well and who you trust--your parents, siblings, spouse, children, friends, co-workers, therapists, etc--a few questions: what do I do well that makes me stand out from everyone else? What comes so easy to me, that is hard for other people, that I don't even see it? What do you think makes me special and different from everyone else? Write down the answers. The good thing about this exercise is that you may find yourself pleasantly surprised to know how others perceive you. And it definitely will help you identify many of your wonderful attributes and talents.

The other exercise I recommend is work related. Take a look at each of the jobs you've had and find your "WOW" factors. These are the things you did in each position that made a difference. They are your accomplishments and how you served others in the best possible way. They can be specific goals you reached, or the support you gave. These are the points your bosses, clients, employees, and co-workers would be raving about you.

Once you have all three lists completed, you can look to see what the common threads are. What keeps coming up in each? So many people end up spending a small percentage of their time working with or using their unique talents, which causes a lot of discontentment. If you know what your unique talents are, then you can begin to structure your time and days around using them as much as possible. We see so often that people will try to fit themselves into a job description, instead of doing the internal work to figure out what unique talents you have that you love to work with, and THEN finding work that fits that.
Happiness is not a goal, it's a process. Knowing yourself, your special talents, and what you can do to make a difference in the world, is only going to have positive affects in your life. Take the time to do your inner homework and you'll find yourself on a path to a better life where you feel the amazing contribution you were meant to give to the world! You ARE special and you ARE unique! The question is, do YOU know that?


About the Author:

Karin Volo is known as your Dream Job Mentor. She has worked in executive search for over 15 years on two continents and has placed hundreds of people in their dream jobs. She has worked internationally and has a good understanding of cultural differences and understands how important the right job or career is for a person's well being. Her interviews often led to coaching sessions as she dug deeper to find the truths about a person's desires, hopes, and dreams. Becoming a certified life coach was a natural step in her career of helping people. Combining her years of business with her personal experiences, Karin's purpose is to inspire people to discover their very best and she does this through mentoring, consulting, and writing. Karin believes in focusing on the things that inspire a person to bring out the best.

He replied, “The expiration date.”