Retirement, Royalty and Recognition…Your Crown Awaits
In today’s blog we are going to talk about retirement. Defined as “a time in life when you choose to permanently leave the workforce. To leave the workforce behind.” When we retire, I’d like to think of it as royalty, as something we have earned. Let’s take this deeper.
I watched a story about Diana Nyad, a 64 year old woman who swam from Cuba to Florida. It was a 103 mile swim and it took her 53 hours to accomplish. Her first attempt was when she was 28 years old. This drive lay idle for 32 years in her mind until she decided at age 60 to train and get back in shape. She trained for a year to attempt it again. She said, “it’s just going for a swim". It took her 32 years to retire the thought of this being unattainable. Year after year, she had it in her mind to accomplish this in her lifetime. It was her destiny. After 4 failed attempts she finally accomplished it on her 5th swim at age 64. I’m sure she was told at her age this could kill you, you’ll never be able to accomplish this, the time is not right. But instead of listening she went on to bring her destiny to completion. This, to me, makes her royalty. She earned her crown.
So I ask you, what is stopping you from attaining the unattainable in your lifetime? What thoughts need to go into retirement? Maybe you need to retire worry, stress, regret, anger, feeling not good enough. I pulled a card about this topic and drew The Chariot, Willpower, Victory, Recognition. It seemed to be a very fitting card with insight from God and the angels. You go into battle in a chariot with a team that can get the job done. I think of willpower as strength to endure anything that comes your way. Thinking through and processing what needs to be done and then doing it. Sometimes, “shadow work” needs to part of the exercise to get you ready. It is a look back at the beginning the road block paced in front of you. While Diana swam, it became like a meditation. She had memories from her passed that would creep into her head, sometimes placing her into a panic attack but she kept on going. She had the willpower to keep on going. I want you to think, when was the last time you felt great about yourself. Not just good but great. You were 100% happy for the entire day. Did it bleed over to a week or a month or a year? We all have ups and downs so life is not perfect but we can be happy about our decisions we make in adversity.
When working and planning for retirement, the average person retires between 65-67 years. We have worked hard preparing for a time when all is well in the kingdom. I remember when my mom retired. She told me she was busier than she was when she worked. The difference was, she was busy doing the things that made her happy. She gardened, traveled, visited friends, had dinner with classmates etc. She was the queen of the garden. She gained her royal status. Diana had no thoughts of retiring the idea that at age 64 she would accomplish her greatest desire instead of planning her retirement. She gave herself permission to feel good about her vision. She retired her doubt that it could not be done. I believe she is now 74 and she continues to do talks about her swim, her mindset and her team.
Envision your retirement to look like. Just take a moment, what visuals do you see? For me, it would be traveling to all the states, visiting landmarks, doing things with and for my children and grandchildren. Making memories with them that will last long after I’m gone. Let’s agree to retire/leave behind all the old energy that swirls around in our minds. Those things that tell us we can’t and work on replacing them with new energy in the form of Prayer and meditation, visualization, being of service to others, reading and learning, opening our minds to all the possibilities, taking walks to clear our minds, listen to music to raise our vibration, be creative, traveling. It is limitless the things we can do. Dr Suess has a book out “Oh, The Places You Will Go” If you haven’t read it, I highly suggest it. One of the pages reads, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.” It goes on to say, “Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you. And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.” I love that, it makes me happy and gives me hope that I, alone, can make the decision to follow my vision.
Now is the time to think about your royal title. What would it be? All things are possible when your mind is in the right place. In the movie, Diana’s coach kept asking how’s your mind? She would reply good. I have a 4:4 playlist in my head, this was the rhythm she needed for each stroke. She knew if she sang the song in her head 20 times that would be an hour. She had it all figured out and thought it would take approximately 60 hours to complete. The song was her vibration for balance, rhythm. It was also part of her plan for her goal. Vision, balance, rhythm, a plan, a goal. This was her Chariot card. Willpower-Victory-Recognition. This left no room for negative thoughts of it can’t be done. She retired those thoughts and the people who said them. Just the thought of swimming out in the ocean with all the sounds and creature around me gives me the willy's. And at night, how eerie it would be. To find the beauty in the sunrise or sunset, dolphins swimming with you but you are also swimming amongst sharks, stingrays and jellyfish. She had hallucinations from exhaustion and thoughts of her past demons would appear in these hallucinations. It slowed her down, but her coach in the boat along side her was there to help her through it. Diana had a team of experts with her to help accomplish her destiny. This brings up the question, who do you surround yourself with? You are the captain of your ship. You steer it. Is it time to steer your ship into gentler waters and feel the warmth of the light that is within you? Would you consider your circle “expert friends”? Helping you move towards royalty or are they the eerie dark waters that hide and turn into sharks in the water? And how do you reciprocate your expertise for your friends as they work towards their retirement and royalty? Think about diving into water, it can be like a warm knife going through butter or it can be a hard slap on your entire body knocking the wind out of you. There is a saying, “It’s what you’re made of, not the circumstance around you. The same boiling water can harden an egg or soften a potato. It’s the external circumstances based on the inner qualities and circumstances.” What is inside you determines what comes out of you. Don’t allow it to be the other way. Retire allowing circumstances to affect what is inside of you. Life is what you make it. Retirement is what you work your entire life to achieve. It can harden you or it can soften you.
In the end are you retiring as royalty with a good clear mind or regrets that steal your crown? Think about what is important to you. Live the life you love and love the life you live. Pick up your crown, straighten it and wear it with pride. You are royalty.
I believe in you,
Stacey
To watch this episode of Tuesday Talks at 10:30 go to the group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1287200778030033/ or the link for the talk https://fb.watch/rDHYZT7UX_/
