Life is for living, age is but a number, and you're as old as you think you are, etc. etc.

After years of hard slog I can choose the work I want to do and it's great. I'm making the most of the opportunities that come my way and have made so many interesting contacts. My body may be wrinkly but my brain is still pretty sharp and I find, to my delight, that I can hold my own more than I used to. I think it's because I've become more confident in my self and my abilities. Bring it on!

Hello Worlie , why don't you try the WI ? It really isn't all Jam and Jerusalem !! I have been a member for 30+ yrs and have never in all that time ( or before ) made a pot of jam .and we never at our meetings sing Jerusalem .We have monthly meetings each has a speaker with an interesting topic , but best of all are the many groups formed by the members . Craft , book club , play reading , walking group , lunch club , theatre visits and many others . It really is up to you how involved you become . Give it a try , we are quite a friendly bunch if you are - GOOD LUCK

I'm a bit further on too - Barrow Gurney

I'm a bit further up in portishead?

is there anyone on here who lives in or near bridgwater in somerset? i have a bungalow on a retirement site here which is very nice etc but its difficult to know where to go to meet people and socialise as i dont know the area as yet, i am quite ancient but very lucky in being fit and healthy, would love to hear from others on here even ifyou just say hello, Worlie

Jamaica?

Kingston!

Glad to see we're such a positive bunch

Mines in Cirencester, where's yours?

haha! me too jeni! Keep thinking I don't want to do any more work then something crops up and I say 'Yes OK' & before I know it I am working again!
PS perhaps we should get our aunts to meet up!

It's easy! I've done it lots of times!

What? He gives it up every night when he goes to bed?

I keep retiring. It's like mark Twain said about smoking!

I have loved being retired, although for most of it I have been desperately worried about my daughter's health and her medical negligence case. My natural disposition is to be happy and optimistic but sometimes it is hard not to allow yourself to be made unhappy by the actions of others.

soop and green and all of us to the future

I'm quite happy being the age I am, and the age I'm going to be, whenever that takes place as the years go on! I could have done a lot of things in a better way, and have made so many awful mistakes. In saying that, if I'd known they were going to be mistakes, I wouldn't have made them! I perhaps let my parents down...... I could've been a better parent.....? I bet you anything my own parents said exactly the same. We can only do our best - and to do that we have to look forward! Anyway, the builder's giving me a 20 year guarantee on my roof......I want to be here when it runs out!

Now I'm retired I do miss going to work, the social side of it and the exercising of the little grey cells. But when I was at work, I couldn't wait to retire! There is much to say for and against both.

I'd like physically to be in my 30s as the only thing I dislike about getting older is the creaking joints etc and not being able to do things quite as I used to.

Mentally though I am in a much better place, managed to accept and come to terms with previous situations and thoroughly enjoying being a grandma to six super grandchildren. It is true that mixing with children keeps you young in spirit and it gives me a chance to act like the real fool I am

I promised myself I would take up quite a few things once I retired, I really must get my act together and get started

Yes alsion I have been retired for three years and its nice not to go to work in some ways but also can be rather boring I did have avery busy exciting job. Now I am getting a group together to form a social enterprie and run our local cinema which has closed and that's is giving me a bit of a buzz but still rather be younger.

Nonu, so do I. We all seem to have our ups and downs, and if we don't have something in our past which causes us concern then perhaps we haven't really lived? The old saying we learn from our mistakes is very true, and I am old enough to have made more than my share, I'm afraid, but I can live with that and have moved on to enjoy a happy retirement; I know I am very fortunate to be able to share that with my other half.

nightowl and Greatnan...like you, I've been through a long period of 'soul-searching' and have retraced a painful path of remorse for what I consider to be personal failings. Thankfully, I've now reached a better place. At last, I allow myself to enjoy the simplest of pleasures. Apart from wishing that my "inners" would give me less hassle, I LOVE LIFE - and intend doing so for as long as I'm allowed.

My aunt lived on her own until she was 97 and had a better social life than the rest of the family, she even had a toyboy who used to take her for trips out.

I agree with all the positivity , can"t help it , love everything about life [big time] [sunshine all the way]

I had a friend with a 99-year old Mother who lived alone and did all her own cooking, baking bread and did her own housework. She decided she needed a new carpet so my friend took her to choose but she would only look at ones with a 10-year guarantee! I was truly impressed by that.

The fact is though, that however you try to avoid it, you are as old as your birth certificate says and we are all on the same path with its inevitable ending. So I try to see every day as a bonus and enjoy all the nice things that happen and minimise the rest!

Greatnan A virtual ((hug)). I am also prone to mulling over past mistakes and dwelling on regrets. It's sometimes hard not to let that spoil the present. I think I have a guilt-prone personality but motherhood seems to bring a whole new level of guilt along with it.

I had a lovely day with my family last weekend when I was perfectly 'in the present', so I shall aspire to more of that (thanks Grannybug)

susie are you still working? If you are then you have yet to expereince the wonders of retirement! I know many people feel that it is the end of everything but believe me it is just the beginning. Look forward to it with great expectations.

Anna as I said in the other thread, I try to look forward not back and we are having a great retirement, travelling to far flung places and trying out new experiences. I now have time to excercise more than when I was working and can touch my toes with my legs straight for the first time ever! According to the docs I have loads of things wrong with me but none of them bother me so I just don't go to the doc about them.

DH and I spend more time together than before but also enjoy spending time apart.

Yesterday we went to Handsworth in Birmingham to a reggae festival and it was great fun! Incidentally with all the media going on about race issues we were in a predominantly black area but all races were represented and mixed with each other and there was no trouble at all. The few police there had a lovely easy day.