My Take on “Thriving Over 50”

Have you heard the term ‘The Third Age’? Late in 2018, I was contemplating changing the name of my blog to something incorporating this idea, when I met a new blogger who is my next guest in the Over 50 & Thriving Series.

The Over 50 & Thriving Series is all about connecting with other like-minded Over 50s & Beyond (I’m in the beyond category now) and as one my words for the year is ‘Evolve’, each contributor teaches me something new. I can ‘evolve’ with the lessons and words of wisdom I receive and I hope you also gain some new idea or lesson through the series.

Nancy Dobbins, is new to blogging but when I saw the name of her blog ‘Defining Third Age’ at the time I was contemplating the name change, I knew I had to connect with her as she and I are obviously on the same page.

I would encourage you to connect with Nancy through the links at the end of her article.

My Take on “Thriving Over 50”

When Sue asked me to contribute to this series I was flattered and humbled.  You see, I am really a newbie author in this blogging community with so much to learn.  Sue and many others are my models and mentors in this new journey…I’m grateful for the opportunity to add my voice to the conversation.  I learn so much about myself when I read and interact with these accomplished folks, and I also learn about myself when I write.  To be formally asked to contribute here is an honor I take very seriously.

My blog’s title is “Defining Third Age” and it was a very purposeful choice.  There are 4 “ages” in one’s life.  First Age is childhood, Second Age is adulthood/family/careerbuilding, Third Age is active “retirement”, and Fourth Age is one’s declining years.  So, in a very literal sense, my blog as well as my choices in other areas will help me define how I want to live at this time in my life.  I am energized by the possibilities that this opens up.

My career before my “Third Age” was as a teacher and educator, as was my husband’s.  Part of what I enjoyed most about teaching was inspiring a love of learning in my students. 

This came naturally to me as I am a lifelong learner myself, always on the lookout for a challenge, adventure, or opportunity to do or learn something new. 

My blog is definitely a new challenge! 

I have recently begun an online course on the Science of Happiness.  And travel is on the list as well as it is one of the best ways I know to challenge one’s assumptions about the world and learn along the way.

Now that Dan and I are no longer in the classroom and tied to the routine of an academic schedule, even more choices have opened up.  We have become “snowbirds” and will split our time between our lake house in NH and our new little home in Florida. 

We know that life is uncertain, so we want to act on some of our dreams while our health cooperates.  So this will involve a fair bit of traveling in the nearer future.  I can say that it is nice not to have to travel during school vacations with all the crowds and high prices.  The flexibility our new schedule provides is a wonderful luxury.

We are avid sailors and have a trailerable sailboat and have always dreamed about lengthier cruising on her; we just came off of spending a month on the boat in the Everglades and another trip is planned to the Florida Keys in March. 

We are off to Costa Rica with family in a few weeks, and will be travelling around the US a bit this summer for the weddings of my niece and nephew.  I’m sure we will work in some interesting and enjoyable side trips along the way.  I’m also in the process of convincing Dan we should take a trip to Europe as I have never been and it is high on my list of “must do’s”. 

Another dream which we are planning for next year or the year after (as the spirit moves) is an RV tour of the US to see as many of the National Parks as we can.  The planning and anticipation for that trip is already underway.  You can see that we are determined to stay active, involved and on the move.

My take on “Thriving After 50” is that it is all about making choices that keep you engaged and learning.  Try something new.  Travel somewhere you’ve never been before.  Meet new people and make new friends, blogging friends included.  Take a course or research on your own on a topic that fascinates you. 

The opportunities are endless…and you are in charge of the choices.  It’s YOUR Third Age.

Meet Nancy

Nancy is currently defining her own Third Age.  She is mom to 3 uniquely fabulous grown children and step-mom to her husband’s two terrific sons – with a rapidly expanding family of significant others and grand-kids.  

She is retired, somewhat recently, from a longtime education career that she loved and where she found a great deal of success and personal satisfaction.  

A huge motivator in starting her blog was to help transition into this next stage of life and to help discover how we define ourselves in the absence of a career and with an empty nest.  

How do we answer the “What do you do?”  How do we stay healthy, happy, and engaged in life?  She shares this new Third Age with her husband Dan, also a retired teacher.  They live in Epsom, NH and in Lake Placid, FL when they are not sailing their boat YNot or out traveling in their next adventure.

Connect with Nancy

Defining Third Age

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