Healthy Living

For Senior Citizens, Are You Going To Dream or Drift?

by John Clark 
05/14/16
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If you are approaching retirement age but live into your nineties, as many are today, you still have one-third of your life left. Think of it. That is a long time, one-third. Plan on how you will spend that time. Reinvent yourself! As of this writing, I am almost 67 years of age, but have a writing and speaking ministry. I have an older sister who is soon to become a professional artist at the age of 70.

     Dream. If you don't dream, you will drift. Not everyone can be a writer or speaker, but every senior can do something with their next 25 to 30 years. I know one senior who recently told me, "You know, John, life goes down hill at 70." How sad for him to feel that way. I thought, "Speak for yourself, that does not have to be the case." Get out and do something. Volunteer somewhere. Interact with people in some social setting. Even seniors living on fixed incomes do not have to allow themselves to just sit around the house. Keep your future alive. 

     Sadly, though, there are many seniors who are afflicted with physical pain and huge medical bills. They also may have very little or no retirement savings. In a recent article I read, it was mentioned that some of these people are giving up on life, even to the point to where they are suicidal. Yes, how terribly sad. Some people approaching retirement age are taking their lives! They have completed 50-60 years of living but see no hope or financial security for the remainder of their days. 

     I am one of those seniors who has no retirement savings. I will have to work until I am quite elderly Then there is the uncertainty of social security running out, or so they say, as the U.S. Government continues to spend billions of dollars on other social programs. Nevertheless, the combination of these two factors is a scary thought. Many seniors could look at that on a strictly human level and understandably see no reason to live. 

     As a Chistian I have a relationship with my Creator who is able to take things above the human level. He is not subject to man's ways or to government. He is not controlled by the world's system. God has been faithful to me, in so many ways, throughout all of my 67 years. He knows my needs 20 years from now, if I am still here. Based upon this I have every reason to believe that God will continue to be faithful to me for all the years I have left. Can you say the same? He has a purpose for my life, and until that purpose is finished, my life will not be over. My future can be described in Ephesians 3:20, which is my life verse. "Now to him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that I ask or think, according to the power that works within me." I can put my confidence in God's ability to do beyond what I can even imagine until my time on earth is up. That is good reason to keep on living, and dreaming. 

     If you are a senior who is a Christian, trust God with your future. Ask him to give you a dream and vision for your life, that will make you excited about getting out of bed every morning, even if you are 90 years old!

     For seniors who have not made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you don't have to be one of those who has no hope and has given up on life. Enter into the future God has for you by accepting his forgiveness, love, and grace. You can also have the assurace of eternal life. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life." It is rather surprising that many seniors, even those who may have one foot in the grave, have given no thought as to how or where they will spend eternity. Receive hope for the present age and for the life to come by calling upon the name of the Lord for your salvation, who died for you on a cross 2,000 years ago, and literally and physically rose from the grave that you might have power over death. 

Check out my motivational book written to seniors, called " Seniors: Are You Retiring Or Recharging?" It is available for purchase on amazon.