Women ready to go-go and men refusing to leave home are an age-old retirement portrait, says psychologist Jed Diamond, who writes about male menopause. “I see a lot of men at mid-life and older who are basically depressed. They need understanding and help.”
Will men finally get it? Marriage counselor Kathy Nickerson says that the concept that men are the caretakers of life has been fading since women thronged to the workplace. But Boomer women are now in a tough spot- caught between lingering memories of the way it was and newer, liberated couplings demanded by the 21st Century.
In my own personal experience last summer I attended a Walk-About: Ukrainian Cultural Heritage presented by the Minerva Senior Studies Institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The mission of Minerva Senior Studies is to provide Learning opportunities for Adults 50 Plus by developing, sponsoring, promoting, offering and participating in educational activities designed to enhance Seniors’ intellectual pursuits that enrich their lives.
On the day scheduled for this visit we all met in the morning at the MacEwan City Center Campus to get on a chartered bus for this Educational Event. I thought to myself that this was a perfect time to test the theory that most women were go-go and that men in general were no show. I was truly surprised and shocked by the result. There were approx. 40 people taking in this event. Are you ready for the surprise? Out of the Total number (approx. 40 attendees) I was the ONLY male on this trip including the Host (Female).
So, what is happening here? What happens to men who retire and cannot be budged out of the recliner or their own garage or even their garden? i.e. natural tendency to isolate themselves in their own activity.
On the other hand, women having seen the kids off on their own, cared for elderly relatives, retired from a job, see at long last their chance to experience a bit of life that has not been possible to date. Travel beckons! Time to learn a new skill or take up yoga, dinner out and why not, become a business or social entrepreneur or small business owner through Lifelong Learning in your retirement life. Women are tired of the domestic scene, but many of them can’t get the husband interested in anything that could develop a mutual interest and possibly save their marriage. Men and women want to retire in style. This is why psychologists say the divorce rate is declining for all age groups except the 60 Plus crowd.
Entrepreneurial Preparation
In preparation for becoming a senior entrepreneur and for successful aging it is very important to consider and study active brain activities. In Chapter 3- Dare To Dream of my new writing project titled, Encore! Encore! Seniors (50 Plus) As Entrepreneurs: Their Time Has Come, I mention Richard Restak, a neurologist who said that, Aging can be thought of as the result throughout the body of a general wear-and-tear process.
In all body organs except the brain, increased activity leads to more wear and tear and accelerated degeneration. In the brain the principle of operation is unique. Activation of nerve cells doesn’t lead to a general degeneration of function but, instead, to the maintenance of neurons during normal aging.
This is really quite an extraordinary situation if you think about it. The brain in contrast to every other organ in the body, has the potential to improve with use and to keep that edge into the NINTH decade and beyond.
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