Boomer Randomness

Do you ever see yourself as the person you were in your youth, with the same personality and self-worth beliefs you had as a child or a teen?   Then even when faced with evidence that you’re a much different person as an older adult, you sometimes are still surprised when others see you as the you of today while you think you might not be that you.   I do. I was a shy kid with few close friends. I was a bit of a loner too. I was ok with all of that. The irony here is that I chose radio as a career. I’ve been in radio most of the past 44 years. I’m not particularly shy anymore and I love being around people. I have many friends but only a handful of truly close friends; and most of those close friends have been friends for decades. My birthday was last month and I was pleasantly surprised at how many people acknowledged it. Actually, I’m surprised by how many Facebook friends I have. Ok, FB friends aren’t always close friends, but I’m proud to say I know or know o...

At 9:15 one recent morning, while sitting on the toilet (where writing ideas seem to pop out), I silently and reluctantly admitted to myself that in some ways I’m tired of my job. I love my job, but I’m burned out on the quantity and constantly frustrated by the multi-person scrutiny of much of what I do. Problem: I’m not in a position financially to leave this job. Psychologically too, because some of my ego and identity is tangled up with career. However, like I mentioned, I love my job. That definitely complicates this line of thinking. I’m at the top of my game. I get regular praise for some parts of my work and my confidence level is pretty high. I know my weaknesses as well as my strengths and I rarely assume I know it all. I’m always ready to learn new things and I’m fairly open to change. Hooray for me. The search for purpose and meaning in life is a common characteristic of boomers. Many of us hit our ‘coming if age’ point back during the ‘age of Aquariu...

Have you ever made a bucket list? The concept is to make a list of things you want to do before you “kick the bucket” (die). Most bucket lists seem to include crazy, once-in-a-lifetime activities that people keep putting off because daily life gets in the way. Skydiving seems to be on many lists; NOT on mine, by the way. As we get past 50 years old, we can psychologically see the end. We’re at the 50-yard line and see the end zone. We see a light at the end of the tunnel (and hope it isn’t a train). Ok, no more analogies. Time takes forever as a teen, but speeds along as an older boomer. We are running out of time to do those things we put off doing. I’ve been very fortunate to have already done many things that might otherwise be on my bucket list. A partial list: see an Atlantic Ocean sunrise (many times), a Pacific Ocean sunset (once), swim in the Gulf of Mexico, photograph a moonrise, see the Grand Canyon, catch the view from the top of the Empire State Building and the S...

If you’re a baby boomer, you probably already know that you’ll be seeing the doctor more often now than you did in your 20s and 30s. Ten years ago, I had one doctor and a dentist. Now, at a little past 60, I have at least six doctors and a dentist. Sometimes I laugh internally as I enter the waiting room for some of my doctor visits because I am often the youngest one there. A little mental giggle almost surfaces as I observe a row or two of gray-haired patients with their canes. I say ‘almost’ because I also walk with cane, because of MS, and my hair would also be gray if I didn’t color it monthly. I accept my evolving medical status but I still struggle to accept my senior status. Except for living with a relatively mild form of multiple sclerosis, I am in pretty good health. However that does not really reduce a nagging fear of what the future holds. Will my health deteriorate? Will the MS get worse? Can I ever retire? If I retire from full time work, what will I do for part t...

Sunday morning. Ham and egg sandwich and coffee at Panera. A small ‘to do’ list but no timeline. Me and the love of my life sitting across from each other sharing laughs and dreams. What would it be like to recreate this scene every day and not just on Sunday?  Especially the ‘no timeline’ part. That’s one of the pictures in my head when we dream of retirement. We are not the ‘sit on front porch rockers’ types; we want do some kind of work for as long as we can. Part time work. Escape from the rat race work. Meaningful work. Sunday is my recharge day and has been for decades. A relaxing day creates a mental environment perfect for dreaming; perfect for erasing the busyness of the preceding week and designing a potentially exciting coming week. Conversation, reading, listening to music, running a few errands, sipping wine. Hanging with friends. Laughing. Dreaming. The perfect Sunday. I want more of those.

A sampling of quotes from an American hero: “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people." “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” “The time is always right to do what is right.” "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” - Martin Luther King Jr. 

A warm, but bulky coat. Gloves. A wool hat. DataWatch card on a lanyard. Office door keys. Laptop backpack. A Baja Fresh bag with a chicken rice bowl. A grande Pike Place blend cup of Starbucks coffee. A walking stick. That’s what I wore and retrieved from my car in the parking lot at work late one recent morning. It was 11 degrees outside, 43 in the parking lot. Many people I know think I have a lot of patience, that I’m calm under pressure and that I don’t get angry very often. My take? I have plenty of ‘acceptance’; but the older I get, the less patience I have. And the more often I am angry. Maybe ‘patience’ should be my keyword for 2018. That would be a worthy goal. A moment before I struggled to exit my car, strap on all my crap and head for the elevator, I told myself I should take my time and accept that it’s cold, I have several items to take up to my office and I’m a 60-something man who walks with a walking stick because I have MS. I can’t change the weath...