After a month of medical leave from my job as a community college English teacher and department chair (read: division, as in English, Art, Humanities, Communications, Spanish, American Sign Language, Theatre, and Music), I am back with a new attitude. Take better care of yourself so you will be around to enjoy retirement. Don't let the job kill you. It's only a job. Save your passion for what matters!
On that note, what DOES matter? That is the .... what is it? My brain is telling me the "Golden Question," but I think I mean the "Million Dollar Question." The problem is that the last sixty years have resulted in a totally disorganized collection of ideas, phrases, images, memories, and other impressions that have begun to blend into one another. The Million Dollar Question is actually an off-shoot of the Sixty-Four-Thousand-Dollar Question, which I think came from a TV show. This is actually considered an idiom, so I didn't make that one up. Then I checked the web for the Golden Question and it turns out that it is a Mormon thing: "What do you know of the Mormon Church?" and "Would you like to know more?" Basically, this is a door opener to conversion for the Church of the Latter-Day Saints. It is also a reference to a set of important questions such as Who, What, and Why. And, finally, it is a reference to Liberation Psychotherapy, which is really scary. So, back on track. The Million Dollar Question is this: what matters?
Money? On money, we have to be honest with ourselves. Some of us in the Baby Boomer generation did not prepare for retirement. I know I didn't. I tried, but I got sucked into the technology, the houses, the cars, the "stuff" that advertisers told us we needed. I raised a child alone and made decisions for her that cost more money, money spent on camps and opportunities that I hoped would make up for my absence in her life. And I invested badly. An interesting presentation I found on the web talks about some of the characteristics of Boomers. It's old info, but it bears review, especially this page:
What happens at 60? Am I reading this right? Three-quarters of us are working and, as we make up about a quarter of the population, that means that a lot of us will have to keep working in order for the country to fill all of the jobs that ensure everything gets done. I don't want to work this hard for much longer. I want to have fun! And, on that note, shouldn't work be fun in the first place? When it isn't, isn't it time to find something else to do??? Apparently, the differences between us and the Y-Generation are huge and they are the ones who will be filling our shoes in the jobs we leave.
Check out this article about us and them, and be prepared to be sad. Twenty Differences Between Baby Boomers and Generation-Y. The images are hilarious, if not a little ironic. Generation Y is also known as The Millenial Generation and as Echo-Boomers (because they were born to Baby Boomers). They are 20+ and making important decisions about their futures. Some think we didn't give them very good training (or advice), but this chart says otherwise.
They want to be good parents, which is half the battle. But do they have the skills to do so? Let's hope they do. They are smart. They are going to college. They are staying single longer. They appear to be realistic (don't need to be famous). Maybe things are not as bad as some suggest?
Another image I came across recently made me shudder. It concerns Medicare.
.jpg)
I was counting on Medicare. I figured if I could make enough money to pay my rent and buy groceries, I was okay. But apparently I am wrong. How much does all this medical stuff cost?
Well, that's it for today. I have written and, even if I have solved nothing, I have considered a few new ideas about my future. Onward!
No comments:
Post a Comment