BECOMING A “SENIOR”
Posted by Tim Bryce on February 1, 2016
BRYCE ON LIFE
– Quite often, we do not see it coming.
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A rite of passage we must all experience is becoming a “senior.” It can be used to denote the final year of high school or college, or graduation from some other institution, such as a tour of duty in the military. It denotes we are growing older which we commonly overlook.
When I was a senior in high school, age 18, I was in the downtown area of my hometown of Wyoming, Ohio wearing my WHS school letter jacket. I was waiting for a ride and just minding my own business. Nearby were two kids, about age 10, who were talking. I overheard one of them say, “Let’s ask that man over there what time it is. Hey Mister…” I was surprised by the comment, and at first didn’t realize they were talking to me. To be recognized as an adult for the first time was an epiphany for me, something I was unprepared for. Only then did it occur to me I was growing up.
More recently, I was recognized as the 2015-16 Outstanding School Volunteer for Palm Harbor University High School (PHUHS) for my work with CABAM (Center of Academics for Business Administration and Management), a special program within the school designed to provide for the education of business related skills. Personally, I believe it to be an important program and something I wish I had when I was in high school. I appreciated the honor, but noticed I was selected for the “Senior” category. Just as when I was 18, I was surprised by the designation as I still consider myself a regular adult who continues to work. While others my age are scrambling to retire, I cannot see myself doing so. There is too much to do yet, and I do not play golf or shuffle board.
To me, becoming a senior means you possess certain experiences and people rely on your expertise to advise them on various matters, such as in business, education, a particular craft or skill, politics, and life in general. To do so, you must be willing to give back to your community or industry and offer wise counsel.
Not everyone feels this way though. I have met too many people check out when they retire, becoming apathetic, and dropping out of sight.
What I find interesting about the “senior” designation, it is something we all yearn for as we grow up; to be recognized as some sort of experienced expert. I was disappointed when I became a senior both in high school and college. After all of the expectations, I found it wasn’t a big deal. “Is this all there is?” I would lament. I believe we are in too much of a hurry to grow up and do not spend enough time enjoying the moment. However, there are instances where we do not see it coming, such as when I was 18.
Yes, I was surprised by the “Senior” classification on my volunteer award. I certainly do not feel like one.
And stop asking me when I’m going to retire. I still have plenty of dances left on my card.
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
For Tim’s columns, see: timbryce.com
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Copyright © 2016 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
NEXT UP: FINDING THE TIME AS MANAGER – Embrace your workers, do not avoid them.
LAST TIME: THE NEED FOR CONCEALED WEAPONS CLASSES – Why it should be considered mandatory to attend such classes.
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Francis Dryden said
Hi Tim,
I turn 74 this summer. I have been playing music for money since I was 12 years old and still do at least twice a week. I also do a weekly entertainment guide for my paradise here in Mexico that has grown to about 12 pages a week (no advertizing) and have for the past 3 years. I administer 3 web sites for my wife’s Real Estate business and 4 Facebook pages (not including my own)… 2 for the York Grand Lodge of Mexico, one for Axixic Lodge No. 31 and one for the Lake Chapala Shrine Club. I just returned from a great 7 weeks in Canada playing Santa Claus appearing in about 60,000 photos. There is more… When I no longer have anything to impart of use… I will become a senior citizen… Really hope that never happens. I consider myself very lucky to be have the opportunity to do these things.
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Tim Bryce said
I wouldn’t expect anything less from you my Brother.
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ksaveth said
Amen Tim.
I wholeheartedly agree.
Ken
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy Note® 3, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
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Tim Bryce said
A W.H. of Boulder, Colorado wrote…
“I have a lot “dances” on my card left as well, but I’ve been “retired” from working for 4 years now. What I always tell people approaching the “retirement” years is this:
1. You MUST keep a calendar on you at all times. Doesn’t matter whether it’s an electronic calendar or a paper one, because EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY. If you don’t have a calendar ON you, you WILL forget what day of the week/month it is. It helps you to remember when you need to be somewhere to do something important.
2. When you are working, you generally have money to do things, but you probably don’t have the time to do things. This is because people don’t take TIME OFF from working to enjoy relaxation. Two weeks a year simply doesn’t do it for most people. But, when you are retired, you generally have the time to do things, but now you rarely have the money to do them. This is because we don’t generally have a culture of SAVING where we set aside money for our “golden years” and Social Security simply isn’t sufficient. Besides, MOST people get into a “living from paycheck to paycheck” mentality, no matter how much they make, and with children (in school, weddings, etc) it’s pretty easy to postpone saving for a rainy day – until, that is, the rain starts before you’re ready. So if you did not learn to manage your money while you were working, chances are you won’t be very good at it in retirement either.
3. EVERY RETIREE – including myself – will tell you that they are busiER than they ever were when working. In fact, they’ll wonder how they had time to work. Well, you’re not any “busiER” because there are still only 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 52 weeks a year – hasn’t changed in a very long time and isn’t likely to change any time soon. But, when you work, there is this big block of time during the day labelled “WORK” – and it occupies 8-10 or more hours per day where you can’t (well, you’re not supposed to anyway) do anything BUT work. So, you tend to take those little 1-2 hour jobs and push them off to the weekend, or the bigger jobs and spread them out over weeks/months to get them done simply because you can’t shove a 10 hour job into the 2-3 hours of free time you might have in any given day…and some jobs can’t be split up nicely. But, when you retire, that big “WORK” block of time is now empty – so you can reach back and pull in some of those “back burner” jobs you postponed. You end up doing MORE THINGS, but in the same time you had available, so you FEEL BUSIER, but you’re really “just as busy.”
4. Most Retirees fail to learn the Grand Word (NO). Everyone out there who is working figures now that you’re retired, you ought to be the “go to” person, since you have all that free time now. Nope. Remember, you’re just as busy, you’re just doing the things you WANT to do, not those you HAVE to do. And, if you let people stack things on your calendar (remember, you’re carrying it, right?) you won’t get to those little jobs on the back burner – but you’ll still be just as “busy” in retirement.
Retirement is not the “end of the road” – it’s just another part of the road. I refused to let WORK be the only thing in my life while I was working. Oh, it occupied a lot of my attention and time, but so did my family, and so did my hobbies (Freemasonry, amateur radio, photography, learning new skills, and playing racquetball and swimming). Obviously, as I get older and the body begins to betray me, I’ll have to cut back on some of the more physically demanding things, but my MIND is still active. In fact, I think one of the truly deceptive things is that I still FEEL like I’m about 21-25 in my head, but my body knows better. Sometimes, I forget the body isn’t 25 anymore, and the muscle aches and bruises for a few days after I forget remind me again.”
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William Achbach said
I still occasionally remind those who address me as “Mister” that “I’m Bill…Mr. Achbach was my Dad.” Nevertheless (having earned each and every one of these grey hairs along the way), I’ll proudly say, “Hell yes, I’m a Senior…give me my damn discount!”
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FINDING THE TIME AS MANAGER « THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! said
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