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By Cynthia Barnett
One of your biggest fears of retirement may not be giving up
the hustle and bustle of the working world but remaining
socially connected. After all, with your coworkers, you have
likely made some close personal friendships. You likely
treasure them and consider them as closer (if not closer) than
your family members and other friends outside the work force.
Well, we’re here to tell you that you don’t need to feel this
way. You can still maintain these friendships and develop new
friendships as well. You can stay socially connected during
retirement and don’t have to alienate yourself. To do so, you
simply have to be willing to put forth the effort. In this
article, we’ll discuss 10 proven ways to stay connected during
retirement.
• Stay in touch with ex-colleagues – There’s no getting around
it, your coworkers are important to you and therefore you
should stay connected to them. Make sure that you contact them
by phone or meet your friends for lunch dates. Not only will
this keep your connection strong but it will also ensure that
you remain up to date on past work happenings and keep your
friends from work.
• Create meaningful relationships – Besides ex colleagues, now
is the time to create new meaningful relationships. To do
this,
you should connect with family, friends and neighbors too.
Perhaps you can engage in after-retirement activities that
will
enable you to improve these relationships.
• Foster relationship with your spouse – Now that you’re
retired, you should have more time to spend with your spouse.
Take some time to get romantic with them. See if the two of
you
can re-spark a flame or perhaps develop mutual interests.
• Build a strong social network – This can be accomplished by
volunteering at your favorite non profit organization,
enrolling in a class, or joining a group.
• Join clubs – You can connect with like-minded people by
joining a club or a social group. Just make sure that it is an
actitivy that you would enjoy and will get excited about.
• Participate in community service – You can remain connected
to people of various dimensions by assisting with some
community service projects. For instance, perhaps you can
arrange to clean up the parks on Earth Day or participate in
the Why Me Cancer Walk.
• Participate in volunteer work – Join a worthy cause to be in
touch with people. Try to help the deprived and lesser
privileged. Alternatively, you can spread awareness about the
burning issues that concern people around you. It will be an
enriching experience for you too.
• Explore a hobby – In exploring this hobby, join a group of
people who also have this interest such as a knitting club or
ski club. This will increase your interaction with people with
similar interests.
• Re-educate yourself – Participate in classes that you can
learn something new with other people. Make sure that you keep
a positive and friendly attitude and you’ll meet new people
all
the time.
• Connect with family– This is a wonderful way to remain
connected with your children, and your grand children, with
whom you may not have fostered a close relationship during
your
working life. You can’t start any sooner, so cease the moment
right now and you’ll be happy that you took the time.
In conclusion, you can remain connected during retirement. You
simply have to be willing to connect with family, re-educate
yourself, join a hobby, participate in community service
activities, volunteer, join clubs, build a new network, stay
in
touch with ex-colleagues, foster relationships with your
spouse,
connect with family, and create meaningful relationships.
About The Author: Dr. Cynthia Barnett is a ”refired” educator
who had reinvented her life moving from the school house to an
entrepreneurial venue.. She is the author of “Stop Singing the
Blues: 10 Powerful Strategies for Hitting the high Notes in
Your Life, and RE-FIRE, Don’t Retire: 7 Secrets of Highly
Successful Retirees She was featured by Time magazine for
their
article on women in mid-life who have reinvented themselves.
If
you are ready to “RE-FIRE” your life sign up for my free 7 day
audio mini course on the 7 biggest mistakes retires make and
how to avoid them for an extraordinary life at
www.refiredontretire.com
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