BoomerGirl Diary

I’ve been reading a lot lately about boomers and the “new retirement”. Apparently the boomer generation doesn’t view retirement in the same way as previous generations.

Maybe part of the problem is rooted in the word “retirement.” I visited an online thesaurus, looked up the word “retire,” and discovered it is synonymous with the words vanish, vacate, quit, decay, perish, expire, vamoose, and die!

If that’s what the second stage of life holds, no wonder we boomers want no part of it! Who wants to disappear from life? Who wants to retire if it spells d-e-a-d? Not me, and I’m fairly certain you don’t either.

So if we aren’t going to retire what are we going to do? We are going celebrate this next stage of life by doing things we’ve always dreamed about doing, whether that means launching a new career, traveling, starting a business, learning a new skill, going back to school, or volunteering for an organization whose mission inspires us.

The next stage of life provides new opportunities for career development, community involvement and continued personal growth. Boomer women have a reputation for being trailblazers and we will chart a new course as we embark on this new journey. We are not going to quit life — that’s for sure.

In this column, we will explore a variety of life factors that contribute to successfully transitioning to a new lifestyle. We will explore our dreams and passions. We will redefine and inspire a new vision of “retirement” and embrace new life engagement opportunities.