Writing

 One way to keep your mind working after you retire is to keep writing and thinking about things. The more you can apply yourself to solving your problems and the world's problems the more your mind and brain will tend to keep working for you.

One of the ways to die quickly after retiring is just to stay home and watch tv and Drink beer or wine or alcohol until you die. At first you might be celebrating your retirement but soon you are just committing slow or quick suicide in actuality.

No. It takes a lot of discipline of one kind or another to keep on going mentally and physically after you retire.

I often tell people that retirement is sort of like an eternal summer, Christmas and Easter Vacation from school when you are growing up. It's never ending.

That can be a good thing or a bad thing and it's usually both as time goes on.

So, the whole point here is to have enough chores to do around the house or ranch or wherever you live to keep you busy enough and self disciplined enough to keep going.

Otherwise you won't.

For some people who are more naturally workaholic never retiring might be an option if you own a business or have a job you can continue to do. But, for most people coping with retirement is a necessity.

For example, my father greatly looked forward to retirement but when it actually came he was gone in 5 years time for a variety of reasons.

I visited him a lot but one time he told me the story of a roadrunner mother bird who raised her chicks in his garage in the desert and when her chicks all grew up and left she came to him and cried.

I think he was trying to tell me that he didn't really know what to do with himself after he retired because my mother wasn't an intellectual like he was and he greatly enjoyed talking to me because he began to debate with me when I was 8 to train me in critical thinking because of all the people he knew who didn't understand how important critical thinking is for long term survival as a human being here on earth.

My father was valedictorian of his senior High School Class in Seattle in 1934 when he graduated but he was also gone by the time he was 69 years old in 1985 which was very hard for my mother and I to cope with. He was sort of a spiritual John Wayne by nature and it is impossible to replace someone like that in our lives even though my mother lived until 2008 and I'm  still kicking at 74.

What mostly keeps me going is my wife and children and grandchildren. I'm sort of a placeholder in all their lives. So, as long as I have all my marbles and can walk around okay I'll probably still be here if I can manage it.

By God's Grace