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When I first quit working 10 years ago I had my own house and a fabulous garden. Then my husband died a few years later and I had to move to a condo. Some serious health issues kept me busy but now I am doing well, 61 years young, living in SW Florida and I am so flippin' bored! I don't know what to do with myself anymore.
There's only so much cleaning you can do in a small place. I go to the pool a couple times a week and have lunch with my sister or mother once a week. Other than that I don't know what to do. I'm comfortable financially but not enough to go on vacations. I like kayaking but have nobody to do it with. I like to bike when it's not too hot but joining a bike club is not for me. I'm rather introverted and other than being bored I'm content being alone. I don't golf and some activities are off limits because of fibromyalgia and back issues.
I tried volunteering at the local animal shelter but I'm afraid of the bigger dogs (Rottweiler incident from a few years ago). The one thing I am considering is joining a gym. I've lost 15 lbs. and want to firm up.
What do you retired folks do with yourselves all day? Play cards? Power walk in the mall? Another summer is fast approaching and if I have to stay cooped up to avoid the heat and humidity one more year I will go crazy.
BTW before anyone says move somewhere else - I would like to but my whole family and support system is here.
I like to veggie garden and that keeps me occupied for about half an hour a day. I have lots of animals that I have taken in, but I know I don't want to continue this once they cross the bridge. They can tie you down.
We walk for about an hour a day - 6 days a week. I've lost 15 lbs this year.
I do genealogy. We will go on a quick weekend trip to explore old family "homesteads".
if you enjoy gardening, maybe you can find a community garden plot and join.
It's a very valid and good question. We all need to have some form of activities defined after retirement. How about joining a couple of community school classes, knitting etc, Volunteering in school, libraries could also fill in some porting of days or some other charity org's like red cross etc.
Pick up a hobby too, how about relocating into senior center where people can chat, play indoor games for a couple of hours etc.
I'm far from retirement, but still defining what all can fill out daily activities.
You need a purpose. What is your passion in life? What gives you deep pleasure and meaning?
These are all questions that I'm asking myself constantly, since some of the things I wanted to do in retirement have not panned out. I really wanted to be involved in classes, in an Osher setting, with other adults for lifelong learning, but have not found it here in AZ. At least not Phoenix.
Are you passionate about helping others in some way? If so, there are tons of volunteer activities where that is possible. Hospice, or a hospital, or child welfare organization, or a smaller animal rescue. Do you like little kids enough to want to help them read or do arithmetic, or learn English?
My gardening, which takes up alot of time, will end soon with the onset of the heat here. So, I too am seeking that which will replace my gardening hours, with something I truly enjoy. Keep seeking that new activity. You will find it somewhere. Find a need and fill it. The best mental health advice I ever heard.
I like to veggie garden and that keeps me occupied for about half an hour a day. I have lots of animals that I have taken in, but I know I don't want to continue this once they cross the bridge. They can tie you down.
We walk for about an hour a day - 6 days a week. I've lost 15 lbs this year.
I do genealogy. We will go on a quick weekend trip to explore old family "homesteads".
if you enjoy gardening, maybe you can find a community garden plot and join.
I love that sentence that I bolded..... 15 lbs gone from walking an hour 6 days/week. I need to do that. I need to lose more than 15 lbs, but it is a great start. You are an inspiration for me. Thank you.
I'm in central NY and while we don't have the long term heat and humidity Floridians have, we do get some really awful hot days. But not to forget the downright cold, windy, icy, snowy days too. We seem to have a buffet of weather here.
I'm retired since 2010 but had surgery after that and it took me a while for recovery and now am part of a support group with monthly meeting ten months/year. Knee surgery put me out for a while, too. I guess we have to become inventive as to how we spend our time when retired. I've read the above posts and think there are wonderful ideas offered.
It's a case of trying stuff out. See what you like. Google for activities in your area. Or ask your friends what they do.
I joined a MeetUp group and enjoy the activities I sign up for. I'm a bit older than most of the participants, but never feel "too" old to be with them.
Go to a movie you want to see. Go for lunch by yourself. Concerts?
Hope something grabs your attention here. Good luck.
Addendum: When volunteering at an animal shelter you can specify what you do NOT want to do. I chose cats when I did a small stint at our SPCA. It was not a problem. Maybe you can get back to the animals and someone else can do the dogs.
Last edited by NYgal1542; 04-24-2016 at 01:09 PM..
Reason: Added a paragraph.
I could list all the activities and things I do and my wife does. I don't think that will help you. Some will be of no interest. Some will not be convenient or available. In addition, hopefully, you have lots of other possibilities that are not available to us or that would not interest us.
Instead I will pass on my philosophical view on this issue. Unfortunately it is a bit brutal, but I believe true. If you have nothing that you want to do, you are just killing time until you die. Looking for "activities" to occupy your time is IMO not much better. At 60 something you could easily have 20, 30 or more enjoyable, productive years ahead of you. You need to consider what you want to learn, do and accomplish in those years. Five years into retirement, I have become an exceptional fine art photographer and am showing my work in galleries, getting feedback and getting better at expressing myself artistically. That has been a big change since I worked my life in a highly technical field. My wife also does photography, but has become a very accomplished and published poet. Both of us have a whole list of things we want to do and accomplish but again the details would not be helpful.
IMO, cleaning the house and looking for activities is a depressing outlook on life. Find your passions and pursue them. You are worth more than cleaning house.
BTW, my wife also suffers from serious fibro, back issues, constant pain and lots of other health issues. She does Yoga and similar exercise activities. As we get older, we do need to invest more time in taking care of ourselves so that we can do other things in life.
I love that sentence that I bolded..... 15 lbs gone from walking an hour 6 days/week. I need to do that. I need to lose more than 15 lbs, but it is a great start. You are an inspiration for me. Thank you.
I'm in central NY and while we don't have the long term heat and humidity Floridians have, we do get some really awful hot days. But not to forget the downright cold, windy, icy, snowy days too. We seem to have a buffet of weather here.
I'm retired since 2010 but had surgery after that and it took me a while for recovery and now am part of a support group with monthly meeting ten months/year. Knee surgery put me out for a while, too. I guess we have to become inventive as to how we spend our time when retired. I've read the above posts and think there are wonderful ideas offered.
It's a case of trying stuff out. See what you like. Google for activities in your area. Or ask your friends what they do.
I joined a MeetUp group and enjoy the activities I sign up for. I'm a bit older than most of the participants, but never feel "too" old to be with them.
Go to a movie you want to see. Go for lunch by yourself. Concerts?
Hope something grabs your attention here. Good luck.
We don't even walk fast. One of my walking partners is recovering from knee surgery, so I go her pace.
We talk the whole way, so it goes by really fast. When it gets really hot, we go in the late evening or early morning. It doesn't get extremely cold here, so we still walk.
I was surprised too at how much weight I lost. I wasn't extremely overweight and I don't have a scale. I go by how my clothes fit. I attended an exercise class and she weighed us. It had been a while, but she still had my last weight number and the difference surprised us. I had been having to use a belt to hold up my pants. I've had to get all new pants/shorts in size 10.
I guess it's too hot there to garden on your balcony in the summer. But, if not, couldn't you at least grow some tomato plants? A pretty flower box? If you have room to grow flowers maybe you could learn how to make arrangements that you could give to hospitals or nursing homes--or the library.
If you have a good senior center, go there and sit in a/c--you said you are introverted but still, it's nice to have people around sometimes. Sit in the a/c library too or volunteer there. There are meetup groups online for people who have similar interests. Using google you might find someone to kayak with.
If you have any interest in genealogy, it's a wonderful hobby. You mostly do it alone on your computer these days but there are online groups where you can "chat" about it and get help.
As PhxBarb said, what are your passions? Reading? Gardening? Sewing? Knitting? Embroidery?
Your summers produce some of the same problems as our winters up here--booooring and stuck inside. You definitely need to find something to do that keeps you in a/c and gets you interested.
I tried volunteering at the local animal shelter but I'm afraid of the bigger dogs (Rottweiler incident from a few years ago). The one thing I am considering is joining a gym. I've lost 15 lbs. and want to firm up.
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Well, you were open enough to the concept of volunteering that you actually tried it for a while, but it didn't work out (and the reason doesn't matter). Therefore I'll second the motion of several other posters to try other volunteer activities. Is there something that would interest you besides animal shelters? Please don't be discouraged that your first effort didn't work - the second one might not either, but what have you got to lose? It is not unusual to take a few wrong turns, hit a few potholes along the way. It's worth a try for sure.
I see you really enjoyed gardening~ have you heard of window hydroponic vertical gardens? My daughter, who is apartment living, is thinking of it, and it looks really interesting!
I'm a few years out from retiring, but have always been a big into hobbies. I already of a 'list' of 'to do' projects that I can't wait to get into. I'm also introverted, and knitting and quilting are wonderfully suited to us. You can meet with other knitters/quilters, and except for a little conversation here or there, mostly people are focused on their projects, just enjoying the camaraderie, and you also have folks to share finished projects with that ooh and ahh and appreciate the effort put into it.
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