Summary

A retiree grapples with the decision to move into a Life Plan Community due to aging, health issues, and the desire to maintain independence before others decide for him.

Abstract

The author reflects on the challenges of retirement, particularly the overwhelming feeling that comes with aging and health concerns. He discusses the difficulty of making significant life decisions, such as moving into a retirement community, which has become a necessity rather than a choice due to his wife's Alzheimer's disease and his own advancing age. The article delves into the emotional turmoil of leaving a beloved home and the importance of making decisions while still able to do so independently. The author emphasizes the impact of aging on one's ability to handle life's challenges and the need to adapt to changing circumstances, despite the nostalgia and attachment to the past.

Opinions

The author believes that aging magnifies health concerns and diminishes one's resilience, leading to feelings of being overwhelmed.
He values the ability to provide and protect his wife, a commitment he made over fifty years ago, and sees moving to a Life Plan Community as a means to fulfill this promise in light of her Alzheimer's disease.
The author expresses a strong desire to maintain control over his life decisions, viewing the potential for others to make decisions on his behalf as a sign of lost independence.
He acknowledges that with age, one becomes slower and more set in their ways, which complicates the process of adapting to new routines and environments.
The author suggests that the sense of being overwhelmed with decisions is a common experience among retirees, hinting at a shared struggle with the transition into older years of retirement.
He encourages readers to consider joining Medium for access to more stories and the opportunity to write and earn, indicating a belief in the value of the platform's content and community.

Decide before others decide for you

Why We Really Feel Less Capable When Overwhelmed in Retirement

If we were young in retirement, oh, what a difference it would make

But we’re not young, full of vigor and vision to improve our business acumen. We’re retired and getting older at sixty seconds a minute.

MANDY KLOPPERS lists five significant issues facing today’s senior citizens. Of the five she lists, the two I’m dealing with now are health issues and my daily routine.

Crushed with the perplexities of life

Some, if not all, retirees face declining health issues. If not our health, it is the health of our spouse or a close loved one. Our age magnifies health concerns. We’re not as resilient as we once were. So, we get overwhelmed with our current circumstances.

I like how Josh Billings, a 19th-century American humorist, real name Henry Wheeler Shaw, describes old age.

In youth, we run into difficulties. In old age, difficulties run into us.

Overwhelmed

When overwhelmed, the size of the problem becomes too big to handle. What was simple and easy to do in our youth now becomes challenging. We know what to do as mature adults but linger around the start button far too long.

Being overwhelmed is not a sudden emotion. It builds within us until we’re not confident we know what to do. Have you been to the place where you lost confidence to make the choice you should make but don’t?

Well, I’m at that place now.

I know what I should do, but am unsure whether I can do what I should.

I’m considering moving my wife and me into a Life Plan Community.

We went through this routine over two years ago. We were within five days of moving into a Life Planned Community when I pulled the plug. I’m glad I did. Since Covid-19 hit and the retirement home was on lockdown, no visitors allowed. Whew, I’m happy we stayed in our house.

Changing want to, to have to

The health issues are nudging me to decide. My wife’s Alzheimer’s disease continues its insidious course. When I married her over fifty-one years ago, I determined to be diligent in doing two things for her. I would always provide and protect her. Over two years ago, I wanted to move. Now, I have to. It’s not going to be easy.

Our daily routine

We love where we live, our house, our neighbors, and the lush farmland beyond our backdoor. It’s going to change, and it is overwhelming. We moved almost every five years, even out of state, with no problem when we were young. That was then, and this is now. Oh, what a difference older age has made on me.

I know this one thing. As I get older, making a move will be more difficult, not less. This year I turn eighty, and my wife is already in her eighties.

My independence is front and center

I'm certain that if I don’t make this move now, our children or health officials will decide for us. I do not believe I what others making my decisions. When others make our decisions for us, it’s a sign of old age. It is a reach too far; I want to make my decisions. How long will I get to make my own decisions? I don’t know. Act now when I can. But it’s overwhelming.

So, why are we less capable and overwhelmed in our older years?

We’re older, slower, and set in our ways. The slogan, move on, brother, is now, hang on a little longer, brother.

The two I’m dealing with are health and daily routines. I’m finding these two are more challenging to handle in my older years of retirement. I’ll bet you do as well, correct?

How do you deal with the sense of being overwhelmed with decisions?

Thank you for reading, Richard.

Retirees, It’s Time To Let the Past Go and Move Into Exciting Days

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