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Your grandparenting "job" is to stay alert, happy, and competent so you can add to the love and enjoyment in your grandkids lives!
Don't use retirement and that new rocking chair as an excuse for inactivity.
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You have reached a stage or age in life where you should begin slowing down, maybe even indulge in a rocking chair while staring at the fire or sunset. Right? Slowing down at any age could mean reduced stress and stopping to smell the roses. But it could also mean slowing to the point of doing nothing. Doing nothing is wrong at any age. In fact, the end results of doing nothing are unhappiness and probable depression. Many psychologists believe that healthy, middle-aged or elderly adults who retire to the rocking chair have a problem. Often that problem is "learned helplessness." Learned helplessness starts when, after failures or losses, we lose faith in our own ability to do anything effectively. This affects both emotions and behavior. We become more withdrawn and apathetic about life in general and pleasure in particular. Although this can happen at any time we feel that we are not in control of our lives, the possibility of developing learned helplessness seems to increase with age--particularly after retirement. Learned helplessness can, and often does result in depression. Depression is not the normal grief you feel over the loss of a spouse or a job or the general frustrations and unhappiness life sometimes deals us. Depression is a sad, energyless state that can last for long periods of time. It is a prolonged and real mental disorder that varies among individuals and needs professional treatment. There can be another problem with age. Many people assume age equals incompetence. |
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