I saw my youngest child off to university a couple years back and the
empty nesting began for me. Part of the empty nest time of our lives is
figuring out what new or renewed purpose we want to take on in life. A
part of me recognized the ambition of wanting to succeed in life and to
continue to work very hard. Another part of me recognizes the importance
of making sure that time is spent doing things that I love to do. I am
fortunate to have been blessed with work that I love and the fact that I
work with people I greatly value. Life is more than work alone though,
and it is more than keeping up with teenagers, grown children and
grandchildren, although this definitely is another highlight for me as I
love the times I get to have with my grown children, when we are able
to get together. What makes us happy can change over time and sometimes
it is difficult to figure out what brings happiness. Finding our own
happiness may include letting go of others’ expectations of us. This can
be a hard thing to do if a great deal of one’s life has been wrapped up
in working toward something that someone else wanted us to do.
I
have read that being open to our own change and being flexible to set
our own path might be what ambition looks like as we age. Oddly enough,
this view may lead us to be better at what we do than when we worked at
something to be able to pay the bills. It has been shown time and again
that if we do what we love and enjoy what we do, we become better and
better at it, at any age. Living each moment doing what makes us feel
good inside and not solely to make money or gain power can help us age
well and feel healthy. Many studies say that when people strive for
basic goals like giving back to the community, learning more about
something of interest or doing something just to enjoy it, they are
happier. When goals are set for the purpose of getting something back,
like money, happiness is harder to reach, even if lots of money is
earned.
It has also been shown that combining play with work
actually enhances the work achieved – that makes me think of the time I
heard of some big computer companies providing fun things like ping
pong tables for their employees. Research has shown that, overall,
people experience the happiest times of their lives both when they are
younger and when they are older. For people who are having the time of
their lives through their middle years, they probably live the
philosophy of truly enjoying where they spend their time.
As the
empty nesting settled in and I gained the positive aspects of it – like
more free time, I also did some soul searching to fill this additional
time with people and activities I love. I attempted to make a creative
space in which my artistic self of many years ago was found again,
apparently it needs more time to appear. Geocaching my way across the
Maritimes also brings great delight and exercise. I have taken more time
to play golf, a new-found sport for me and I enjoy the beautiful
surroundings at the golf course, and the people I have met there.
Ambition at any age can help motivate us to find those joys we seek in
life.
So take the time to ensure you have happiness in your life;
it is good for your health to do things that bring you joy and warms
your heart, be it a new hobby, volunteering or doing more of what you
enjoy. As the Nike slogan says…”Just Do It™!”
Column 11- It’s important to have fun as we age
Posted in Blog.