Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. ~Dr. Seuss
Last week, I was preparing for my Boomer Boot Camp: Design a Remarkable Rest of Your Life at Kripalu Yoga & Health Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Last year at this time I was creating, especially for Kripalu, the entire weekend from scratch and I was feeling a little crazed.
This year, I’m relaxed and tweaking a bit, and of course, as always I’m gathering great stories to share with my participants. I just have to share Bob’s story with you, because it fits in so well with this month’s theme of the freedom to have fun again.
Bob had achieved what he had set out to achieve in his accounting career, and was looking forward to a fun retirement. Only one problem, though. He didn’t have a plan for what might be next. He thought money and tennis would be enough.
By the end of the first year of playing nearly every day, tennis was losing its luster. By month 15, Bob had had it. Bob was in a slow, painful slide into mind-numbing boredom. Many days he didn’t get dressed, much less leave the house. Bob was losing it.
When he couldn’t take one more day, Bob called me. I helped him identify what he might enjoy doing just for the fun of it, and gradually he began to get out of the house.
He took a consulting job two days a week back in his own field, began to build his confidence, and had fun being back in the groove again.
Bob (like so many of my male clients) had a secret dream to be a rock ‘n roll star, so he started a rock ‘n roll band with musicians all over 50.
He even started playing tennis again – once a week. He was having a lot of fun.
That’s when Bob had a legacy epiphany. He had been given so much in his life, and wanted to give back. There is a large population of at-risk boys in his community, many without the helping hand that was held out to Bob by a kind, older neighborhood man in his youth.
He’s combined his love of sports, music, and fun in an out-of-the box after school program that’s getting rave reviews from the at-risk boys it serves.
Bob’s creating a legacy, and now he’s really having fun!
Where do you find inspiration? How could you make a difference? Share your story with me.
