Note to reader: As you’ve probably guessed, I’m making these blog posts into a book. I’ll keep  you posted on my progress. For now, what follows is my draft of the last chapter. Thoughts?

But You Haven’t Said Anything about Retirement.

 

No, I haven’t.

Well, actually I did.

Because if walking is a metaphor for life, and retirement is a phase of life, then all the things that make for a good walk will make a good retirement.

Check it out for yourself. I think you’ll find an application in every chapter. Can you bring some childlikeness into your retirement years? How about surprise and spontaneity? Will you embrace the mornings and see some sunrises? How about pace? Do you need to find the right pace for these years? And what about places that inspire you? Will you live in or visit them often? Will you be a rebel at times and think outside the box? Will you remain curious and use your imagination?

These are a few of the questions I’m asking myself since hearing from the walkers in these pages.

And, of course, there is the obvious. Besides keeping you healthy, walking can be one of your best joys in retirement. In fact, that might be the thesis of this book. I’ve titled it Walking through Retirement: How To Squeeze All the Joy from Each. I could have just as easily said “How squeezing the joy from the first will help squeeze the joy from the second.

Because that’ what it’s done for me.

So I’m ending this book where I started.

With joy.

Joy is what will keep you walking. And joy is what will keep you thriving.