fitover50

There is one disturbing fact I have noticed as time marches on. Time marches on. Yep, time, those 24 hours we each have every day, no more, no less, is tromping its merciless way through the days and weeks and months and years of our lives.

I see it in my own life and that, at times, is troubling enough. More troubling still, is the way I see time tromping through the lives of the essential people around me. I see family members, co-workers, friends, neighbors and nameless people in the streets experiencing some of the inevitable changes of aging. I still feel like I have a pretty good handle on myself but, others around me, I’m not so sure.

There is a man I pass every night on my drive home from work. He sells flowers at the intersection approaching a major bridge in my city. I’ve seen him there for years. He has never been young. Lately, the sands of time are taking their toll on him. His lumbering walk now sports a decided limp. Gout? Arthritis? Who knows.

Clearly, he works because he must do so for survival. In heat, rain, snow, sleet or any combination thereof, I have seen him. How much longer can he maintain this livelihood?

I have seen changes, aging processes really, in my family. How long before the family dynamics changes yet again with the passage of another dear life from our midst? A member of my extended family celebrated her 100th birthday just a few days ago. A great milestone. How many more can there possibly be?

I don’t mean to be depressing. I’m not feeling depressed. I just want to make note of the fact the time is passing by, maybe more quickly than we realize.

What else did you want to accomplish in your life? Maybe it’s time to put your foot on the gas of some of those goals.

Care to share any of those goals with Fit Over 50? Drop an e-mail.

Are you worried about the financial state of the world? I know I am. I used to fantasize about early retirement. Now, my fantasy consists of wondering if I will ever fully retire at all.

My greatest fear about retirement has always be the idea of a fixed income for life. With the turbulence we’re seen recently in the stock market, the oil market, and the price spikes at the grocery store, a fixed standard of living has little chance of carrying me through for the decades I hope I still have in front of me.

I don’t want to have to go to work bagging groceries at 82. If there are more years of full time employment in my life, I plan on working on them right now, while I’m as young as I’m ever going to be, and still completely healthy and able-bodied.

Do you have any clever or unique ways that you plan to supplement your life and your lifestyle after you put your traditional work life behind you?

Drop an e-mail and tell us all about it. There’s a whole generation of us dying to know.