Surviving the Golden Years

Surviving the Golden Years

We all see ads for when you retire, and prepare for that long anticipated event in our lives, the so called “Golden Years”. Only you can make that work and it is work.

I hang out with a lot of younger men and women, and many times they share what they want to do when that magic moment comes to them. “I’m going fishing all the time”, is a common theme. I don’t want to bust any day dream bubbles here, but after 6 months of fishing it turns into a job. Now is the time to begin developing your myriad interests for the time you are planning for…. Believe me it will be on you in a heartbeat.

If you like to collect, whatever strikes your fancy, study that interest and become as knowledgeable as you can. When you have that freedom you will be able to enjoy your hobby even better. I suggest you try to create as many interests as you can and don’t let some jerk suggest you can’t do it because of your age. Try to stay as fit as you can… yep that takes work also! You may still have setbacks, I sure have but get up and dive right back at it. I have been a book collector for many years and in my so called retirement have made a few bucks by selling highly collectible rare books. I have about 2 dozen books just about collecting books. Experience will teach you a lot also, but the books on collecting are a great asset. The internet wrecked some book collecting and sales but if you are active on the scene you know where to go.

Hiking is big hobby and you might be surprised at the number of folks in their 80s who hike and in some pretty extreme places.

You can write on subjects that you know. When I was 65, I started writing articles for “Wilderness Way” magazine. I just wrote about what I knew. You can do the same in any field you have knowledge about. Once you get to a certain age you have had to experience a lot in your life and you can share that info… People are interested.

When I was 72, I wrote a book for songwriters, that was brought about by Alan Halcon, because of stories I related to him about the music business. He harassed this poor defenseless old man and brow beat me to write a book, then he said, “why don’t you write a short handbook that can be downloaded?” Ah ha, said I… I can do that. A book just seemed too daunting but a short handbook I could handle. Then to my surprise I had about 100 pages and knew it was not going to be a handbook to download. The whole process took me a year to write, and viola I had a damn book. Now what do I do? I got it to a book agent that I remembered I knew. She got me a deal in about one month. You could have knocked me over. My friend Christopher Nyerges had read my effort and made some very solid suggestions for changes in approach that I went for. It made for a more readable book. I knew my subject.

I feel the hobby of being interested in the survival skills is a great way to go. Most of you are on this site because of your interest in self reliance, survival skills and the primitive skills. No matter your age, you can be active in these endeavors. Most of the time, it does not take a great deal of energy and even if you cannot hike a long ways it makes no difference. Learning the plants is a life long pursuit, is fun and is challenging.That is just one skill and you have many others to add to your list.

Look at he age of some of the very gifted people involved in these skills that are active instructors. One of my heros was the late Alton Safford , AKA Longbow. At 93, he was going on a bow hunt in Africa and still taught bow making. Visting his home one day, he was excited about the many projects he was planning for bow making. Al Cornell, who is an instructor at Dirttime events, is in his early 70s, and is very active teaching what he knows about creating fire. Our friend Paul Campbell writes books and is an active instructor at many events including Dirttime events. All of these men are retired but wont sit still for it. Good for them, because if you stop being interested you rot.

I feel the survival skills is a hobby or even a life style that is great for folks who are retired. By that time your collected skills are a natural for you to write about and to become a teacher to hand down what you have learned over the years. Of course, you don’t have to be old to teach, but as a retired hobby, it is hard to beat. Being involved in the skills gets you outside in the healthful air and keeps you invigorated. It is an atmosphere where elders are respected and treated with dignity… Hard to come by in today’s world. It makes you happy to be there. The pay off is golden and helps you realize this is the golden years we hear so much about. To be surrounded by folks who have a common interest, no matter your age, because age does not matter is amazing. That’s why at Dirttime 14 we have a 13 year old instructor. He has the skills and owns them. I am, as of this writing, 75 years old and looking forward to every event, makes me feel alive. As long as I can shuffle around, I want to be around folks who are involved in the outdoor skills. I think this is a great retirement hobby. I think you will too when it hits you that you are retired.

Don’t give up. Do not be a victim of age, you still have plenty to offer. Never retire is my battle cry. It is another dimension and you will all enter it.