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Greetings! Summer is here, a time when people can shed their winter doldrums and just come alive. If you are one of them, this is a great time to zero in on what you most enjoy doing. Are you affected by the seasons? Are there things you enjoy doing more in the summer than in the winter? What are they? Because there are no right or wrong answers, you can merely increase your awareness of what gives you the greatest enjoyment and continue doing the same or challenge yourself to move to the next level. No matter what activities or projects you pursue, the ultimate goal is finding fulfillment in what you are doing. In this month's e-zine, learn more about a couple we interviewed this month, a couple who enjoys each day and, along the way, have made a difference in the life of a young man temporarily working in the United States, far away from his family and homeland. Happy July, Gail and Ed
------------------------------------------- Don't forget to check what your passion is, click here to take our FREE preliminary passion test, the test we give those who sign up for Discover Your Passion coaching with us. You may find your answers right there. If you want to go further, sign up for the 30-day Explore Your Passion course, which will be available next month. Check out our website, Retired-NextPhase.com. |
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THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH
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The key to retirement is to find joy in the little things.
- Susan Miller
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Jim and Mary Ann Farrell
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Jim Farrell, Jose Martinez-Osario, Mary Ann Farrell
The ultimate goal for most retirees is to be able to do exactly what they want to do, not what someone else expects them to do. Some folks pursue a long-held passion; some go to work in a different area; some establish a routine, relax, and enjoy life as it unfolds--no planning necessary.
Today we had the opportunity to meet a couple who is enjoying their retirement years doing exactly what they desire to do each day.
Mary Ann and Jim Farrell, 38 year residents of Cranford, left careers they each enjoyed. Jim taught Spanish at Jonathan Dayton Regional High School and Mary Ann worked for 25 years in international distribution for Schering Plough, presently Merck Corporation.
Their jobs brought fulfillment and enjoyment to them both, but when retirement came along, the jobs ended; and both were content to now establish their own routines and live life on their own terms.
Mary Ann, being a bit too young to totally retire, decided to change careers and went to work for six years at Smith & Hawken, a local retail store in Westfield, where she stayed until they closed up shop and moved out of town.
They maintain friends from their professional lives and enjoy their company on weekends. Jim's retired teacher friends meet once a month and reminisce about the days of yore when grading papers was what they did in their spare time. Reading and digesting daily newspapers has happily replaced that chore.
The enjoyable routine of sleeping until 9 in the morning, getting ready for the day on their own terms, and visiting the Bagel Chateau every day before noon soon brought about a sense of enjoyment that softened the sharp memories of expectations and immediacy that their jobs had demanded.
This delightful couple is the epitome of warmth and kindness. What they regard as "doing nothing" is, in reality, not the way it is. Mary Ann and Jim have befriended a bright Mexican young man, who works as a busboy at their local eatery. They have taken Jose under their wings and taught, nurtured, and cared for him over the past few years. These daily contacts with Jose who works six days a week, have allowed this young man the comfort and security of having about him people who care and can communicate with him. Having been a Spanish teacher, Jim could converse easily with Jose and make the young man feel comfortable. Jim and Mary Ann have also traveled to his home town of Pueblo, Mexico, and could discuss their memories of his homeland with him.
Frequently, it is not what is obvious that is meaningful; it is the effect a person or persons have on other people that makes a difference. Jim and Mary Ann, just because of the specialness of who they are, made Jose's brief stay in the United States a memorable experience. They accepted him; they cared for him; they motivated him; they made a difference in his life.
I like to end an interview with a final question about how the retiree(s) feels. The response from Jim is the word I believe the majority of retirees would most like to have describe their lives no matter what path they have chosen to take. The word Jim used was "FULFILLED." What more can anyone ask for than that!
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BOOK REVIEW - DOING WHAT YOU LOVE, LOVING WHAT YOU DO
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Robert Anthony's book, Doing What You Love, Loving What You Do, is one of the most influential books in my library. It was well worth the time it took to type my underlines and notes. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Because of its length, only one part will be presented at a time. ENJOY!!
DOING WHAT YOU LOVE, LOVING WHAT YOU DO
DR. ROBERT ANTHONY
YOUR LIFE IS THE RESULT OF HOW YOU SEE LIFE. It is important to identify with what it is you really want, not with what you have - but with what you see in your mind. New mental pictures mean a wonderful new life. They give your ideas power. Seeing something will eventually enable you to have it since your level of mental awareness automatically attracts a corresponding way of life. If you present your ideas to negative people, they will be more than happy to give you all the reasons why your ideas won't work.
Once you are clear on what you want, you should communicate it to others because once they are aware of your goal, they can help you attract the right people or circumstances into your life.
Know your objectives. Have a timetable. Select your methods. And prepare to make certain sacrifices.
Winning starts with belief. You must see yourself as a winner. It is a mental attitude.
Success is a voyage to a planned destination. Success happens when opportunity meets preparation. Whatever you consider to be a worthy goal or ideal is what defines success for you. When you surround yourself with achievers, you will never have to face difficulties alone. You can always ask for, expect, and receive encouragement and support.
The real starting point is desire. The more you want to be a winner, the greater your chance of becoming one. Thoughts have power! At every stage in your life, what you have or don't have can be directly attributed to the pattern of your thinking. If you see a real need for change, then it is up to you to alter your thought patterns so that you will begin to receive the experiences of the person you have always wanted to be. If you use your imagination, you can possess whatever you want at this very moment.
The good news is that the instant you really want success, it starts coming into your life. The more you think about success, the more you create it. If you concentrate on things that can keep you from your desires, you actually create your own obstacles. Great achievement is the result of great thoughts. Success is like love. The more you have, the more you have to give.
You can change your beliefs through your actions as readily as you can change your actions through your beliefs. Your beliefs are what guide your actions. It is almost impossible to act in opposition to your beliefs.
Chinese proverb: Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes.
NEXT MONTH:
THE BIGGEST RISK IN LIFE IS IN NOT RISKING.
Read more book summaries on our website.
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Two Ways to Find Your Passion
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1. What projects make you feel a rush of excitement when asked to do?
2. What activities make you forget about the passing of time?
Keep an on-going list until something comes together, creating an idea for you that you KNOW, without question, will give you the greatest satisfaction.
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WHAT YEAR IS IT ?
| CAN YOU NAME THE YEAR?
* Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first female member of the U.S. Supreme
Court.
* Ronald Reagan fires the Air Traffic Controllers and breaks up their union.
* Private satellite dishes are given the okay by the FCC.
* The first DeLorean sports car rolls off the assembly line.
* Pac-Man is introduced and becomes a huge craze.
* First reports of homosexual men dying from what later became knows as
A.I.D.S.
* Polish government (Soviet) crushes Solidarity Movement.
* Assassination attempt on the life of Ronald Reagan.
*The birth of MTV, the 240hour music TV program.
* The first IBM PCs are sold to the public. THE ANSWER CAN BE FOUND IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING........THE LAST BLOCK
Answer found following "Take a break, and laugh about it...."
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LOOKING BACKHeadline
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| If you love Dancing With the Stars, you will love this!
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TAKE A BREAK AND LAUGH ABOUT IT.....
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Ideas about how seniors citizens can save us and the government from itself:
Instead of bailing out poorly-run banks and car manufacturers with billions of dollars, why not use ""Senior Power"?
HOW?
Simply offer a one-time retirement window to the first 75 million people over 60 who want to retire, an incentive of $100M as follows: * They must retire immediately - UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM FIXED
* They must buy an American-made car - AUTO INDUSTRY FIXED
* They must buy a new house for cast - HOUSING INDUSTRY FIXED
* They must send their kids to college - CRIME RATE LOWERED
* They must buy a $100 worth of alcohol each week - MONEY PAID IN TAXES TO THE GOVERNMENT TO HELP LOWER THE NATIONAL DEBT
GO WITH "SENIOR POWER" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ANSWER TO "What Year Is It" QUIZ:
1981
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Profit From Your Passion - a thirty-day E-course
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Retire to Your Passion!! Treat yourself to a thorough review of all of your likes, dislikes, successes, challenges, and everything that has made you who you are today. Find not only what most interests you but also what your purpose in life is. In thirty lessons, you will unlock the secrets of who you really are. To learn more, visit our website.
Introductory Price: $97 - AVAILABLE NOW!
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Rightsizing Your Life
|  Imagine finding what you need when you need it! That pair of slacks you wanted to wear...right there on a hangar. Your favorite shoes...sitting neatly on the floor. Getting and staying organized makes every day life easier, and allows you to start the day without feeling so flustered and rushed. It becomes even more important when you are experiencing or preparing for a major home or life transition, whether you are downsizing, rightsizing, divorcing, remarrying, retiring or making a career change. Living only with those things you need and love leaves more time to do the things you love to do, more time to develop your creative side, and more time to explore your passions! Less is much more!
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Gail Cassidy, gail@coachability.com; (908) 654-5216
http://www.Retired-NextPhase.com
Ed Topar, edtopar@gmail.com |  |
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