Refirement, Not Retirement! Vibrant at 80, Beyond Just Survival, Your Continuing Survival

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams,” wrote Eleanor Roosevelt.

Thus begins this guide to successful retirement, by two authors who believe that getting older does not mean one must abandon one’s dreams. Rather, retirement is an opportunity to get fired-up all over again, in “refirement,” and pursue some of those dreams one has not had the time to pursue up to now.

The authors urge their readers to do the following:

Have a plan.

Confront hard truths.

Expect hiccups.

Delay nothing.

Maintain balance and stability.

Express what you want and need.

Have a simple story.

Ask yourself daily questions.

Make the most of helpers.

Automate as much as you can.

Find purpose.

Stay engaged, active and connected.

In a dozen sections, they delve into what needs to be understood and to be done to achieve success in retirement: Refirement, The Dark Side, Attitude, Health, Stay Engaged, Stay Active, Stay Connected, The Three Freedoms, Refirement in Retirement for Couples, On Aging and Longevity, Issues of Retirement and Aging, A Parting Message.

Along the way, readers are encouraged to ask themselves questions about where they are going, how they are going there and why.

The second part of the book is also highly informative, in the form of a novel, Vibrant at 80, in which Petero Wamala describes how retiree Henry, his principal character, implements much of the advice in the book and how those choices affect his life:  

Chapter 1: Life of Henry

Chapter 2: Visit to The Blue Zones

Chapter 3: The Purpose in Henry’s Life

Chapter 4: Stress Vs. Positive Change

Chapter 5: Ageism: Myth or Reality?

Chapter 6: The Human Brain

Chapter 7: Retiring Retirement

Chapter: 8 Opportunities for Seniors

Toward the end of the novel, Henry reflects on how he himself had been insensitive to the problems of the elderly, and he lists examples of what he has seen others mistakenly doing. Outside of his own personal life, he began to notice ageism everywhere. There were some common traits which he found recurring: