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“Moderation is a fatal thing: nothing succeeds like excess.” Oscar Wilde
Before you adopt Oscar Wilde’s philosophy as your life motto, be reminded that Oscar Wilde died at age 45 in exile and poverty. He was a flamboyant man shining a bright flame over his life but he wasn’t in it for the long term. If you want to live a long life or you want to be surrounded by people who love you, Oscar doesn’t have much to tell you.
Long and Healthy Retirement
Since we are talking about outrageous retirement, I am going to guess that one part of an outrageous retirement is living a long and healthy life. Moderation can help. Here in the home stretch of life there is no reason to get over-excited. You know the finish line is out there. You also know that there is no hurry in reaching it. Take is easy. You can be focused. You can be determined, but there is no reason to be a frantic shooting star. Start with your emotions. Don’t eliminate them, manage them.
Moderation in your emotions
Look back over you life and ask yourself if there was any time when you were justified in being frantic. Did it even make sense to panic ? At the time, it might have been hard to restrain those emotions but after all these years, did it make a difference that justified the experience? Now in your retirement, don’t let emotions rule your decisions. Think and consider. Then act with confidence and calm. The world will wait for your decision.
Moderation in your eating
Good health follows good nutrition but don’t follow silly fads or special diets. Eat a range of fresh foods and don’t restrict yourself from foods that health Nazis say are unhealthy if you enjoy them. East whatever you want but keep the french fries and ice cream as treats – not everyday items. Be aware of nutrition and consider taking vitamins and supplements when your diet may not provide what your body needs. The aging body does not process food as efficiently as it did in youth and supplementation may be the best way to ensure that your body gets the nutrition it needs. Treat yourself and enjoy the goods you like but be moderate if they might not be the most healthful.
Moderation in your exercise
Do some kind of exercise on a regular basis. Make it a part of your life pattern. Don’t do extreme things like running marathons. Be warned that this is my subjective opinion. I do not think that extreme stress like a marathon does anything good for an aging body. I am not even sure that no exercise is not superior to extreme exercise. This is merely my advice and the principles that I am basing my retirement lifestyle around. By all means get some other opinions. Regular walks and .training like yoga and Tai Chi are good ways to keep the body functioning and maintain good balance to prevent falls which can be the biggest problem for the elderly.
Don’t limit what you do so much as how much you do. Variety is good and I think that you can’t be harmed very much by small doses of anything so don’t deprive yourself, be moderate.
