Our good friend Beryl recently paid us a visit and we got into a conversation about retirement. It was really helpful for me at this stage as, when I asked her for her “tips” it didn’t necessarily go the way I thought it would.
Just so you know, Beryl has been a friend for a good number of years, we think highly of her and respect her enormously. By profession she was a career nurse and was thought this would completely shape her thoughts (eat your greens and do ten press-ups each day). While that was an important factor, her on thoughts were much wider….
1. Value time
”It is important to value time and the window of time we’re in. Time is more precious than money”.
As the years tick by this will become even more important and rightly be so; none of us know how much time we have. We cannot buy time.
2. Enjoy people, be sociable with your friends
This is something which is important to Rachel and myself, I could immediately appreciate where Beryl was heading with this. If any of us fail to do this there is every likelihood, she explained, we could have a very narrow perspective on life and think only of ourselves. Beryl went onto say how it’s important for her to do things with people, or for people and shared a number of examples.
Beryl carried on “having friends with a wide range of ages is important and helps you keep a broad view of life, with friends ranging from youngsters to those who are much older”.
“Wisdom from older people is important as it brings the right balance”
3. Serving others
This is all about building relationships with people and giving your time; another important ingredient of a good retirement. One of the many things that Beryl is involved in is the local Foodbank; an extremely worthwhile cause providing support for members of our communities who are disadvantaged.
4. Swimming once a week, being active
Beryl told me how she has chosen a particular pool to use for her regular swimming. The pool itself is a very sociable pool, so there’s an opportunity for being friendly with other swimmers, in the right way.
As for the swimming itself, I asked her about the benefits as she sees it (as I’m not a natural swimmer myself). Quite simply it is about fitness, enjoying those endorphins, feeling good and, of course, the sociable side too.
5. Lifestyle
Although Beryl has a car, she cycles a lot. She has a rucksack which she uses for shopping and can often be seen wizzing around town on her bright yellow bicycle. Naturally this struck a chord with me and I hope I’ll be doing exactly the same when I’m her age!
Also with good health and fitness in mind, Beryl is tee-total and a non-smoker. So that’s cool, just as you’d expect.
6. Nutrition
Knowing Beryl is such a healthy person, I was keen to hear any tips from her about eating well. I was keen to hear whether it really was a case of “eating your greens”.
Beryl’s approach comes across as being very straightforward, natural and varied. Nothing fussy, weird, trendy, dubious, complicated or dodgy. Instead it was simple with the clear message of SUGAR IS FAR WORSE THAN FAT!!!!!!! Here’s a few other pointers:
- Porridge is a simple food and yet very nutritious, helping to keep cholesterol in check
- Meat consumption is moderate, mostly chicken and fish. Eggs are also included in her diet.
- Salads are eaten all year round. Again it’s important to have a wide variety and typically Beryl will have radish (said to be helpful in preventing dementia), cucumber, tomatoes, peppers (all three colours), lettuce and beetroot. I do like this; after our hot summer switch so many enjoyable salads, we are continuing this in the coming seasons.
- Ryvita instead of bread (is this like eating cardboard? I would find this extremely difficult as I really do like bread). For spreads it tends to be savouries such as hummus and peanut butter (no problems there!).
- Yoghurts
- Fruit, again a good variety and ‘in season’ wherever possible but not too many as fruits do include quite a bit of sugar
- A modest, sensible amount of chocolate
And as for an vices, extravagances, Beryl did confess her Saturday Night Sin. As she started to mention this I was started to get worried, thinking my previous impression of her was flawed. Perhaps she did polish off a huge curry and rice, followed by cheesecake with double cream and a few cans of beer. No, no need to worry, her Saturday Night Sin is scrambled egg with toast and bacon. Well thank Goodness for that, for a moment I was seriously worried.