Categories: reflections on life

6 Oct 2009, Comments (2)

Ways you give away your real age!

Author: Susan Kersley

Some people seem to be old when their biological age is still young. Someone said to me the other day, ‘ I’m thirty already, so old!’  Maybe it seems like that when you are a teenager but when thirty is a long distant memory it seems strange to think that some people consider it old.

One of the ways to keep your brain young is to be redy to try new experiences. I did so over the weekend. I went on a foraging weekend with Fat Hen. A group of 15 people foraged for edible plants and sea weeds on the beach and in the hedgerows and then went back to the farm for delicious chef cooked food. It was wonderful. Anyway we were told about making Haloumi cheese and needing something like rennet to separate the surds from the milk. I remembered we used to eat ‘junket’ when I was a child. We didn’t know about yogurt then. My mother bought some rennet in a bottle aded it to milk which curdled and we ate it with sugar and it was delicious! No-one else in the group had ever heard of junket and I realised then how much older I was than them. Tell me if anything like that has ever happened to you?

Years ago I read an article called 'the cascade effect' It was about people having medical investigations as a result of which further tests were indicated and as the tests got more complicated and the person may experience side effects from the tests themselves.

If you are asked to undergo some tests make sure you really understand the pros and cons of doing so. Look on the internet too to find out how effective the test is in diagnosing something and if there is a positive result does that mean you have to proceed to a more invasive test.
I am not saying 'don't have a test' just be really clear why and for what it is being suggested.

I'm writing this because I've just jumped off a cascade of tests which were getting more and more complicated when I suddenly thought to myself 'why am I agreeing to all this when I don't understand why I need these tests?'

Many times I suspect further investigations are suggested because of the doctor's concern about litigation. So if you decide to refuse a suggested investigation you do need to discuss the pros and cons thoroughly so you come to an informed decision!

If you feel nervous about something you have to do in a few days time and you say to yourself, ‘I am confident’, over and over, you will find that your confidence increases phenomenally.

Affirmations can be much more detailed than that. They could be something about where you want to be, whom you want to be with and what you want to be doing.

Keep your eyes, ears and senses alert and you can find amazing opportunities for a fulfilling and happy life. When an opportunity comes your way, grab it. Make choices, be brave, and take chances. This is the time in your life when you can do that and remember that the opportunity may not come your way again.

An excerpt from 'Get ready for Retirement – how to have a life after work'

24 Dec 2008, Comments (0)

A few days for something different….

Author: Susan Kersley

It's that time of the year again. Plenty of goodies to eat and drink, people to stay for a few days  and a time to do some different things. 

It's great to see them and eat nice food and it's great too when they go home again and normal routines can happen again.  

Trouble is when you retire you don't always establish what your 'normal routine' is!
Is that 'trouble'? Or is that part of the joy of not having to go out to work to someone else's agenda? What do you think? I'd love to read your comments.

For me, I love the opportunities retirement brings: to learn and do new things, acquire new skills, do those things put aside years ago because of the demands of family and work.  

I explore these issues in my book 'Get ready for Retirement – how to have a life after work' Have a look at http://www.lulu.com/sekersley

However it's easy to just while away the hours without achieving very much at all. Work-life balance is important in retirement. Perhaps it should then be called : Life -life balance- balancing the opportunity to take things more easily and the chance to do new things to. So as we approach the end of the year and the beginning of 2009, make some decisions about what you want to do this year and then plan when and how you will achieve your goals. Good luck!
11 Dec 2008, Comments (0)

Why does everything take so long to do?

Author: Susan Kersley

Is this part of getting older I wonder? Or perhaps it's part of too many ideas and not enough action!

I've put together a package about managing time for doctors and am in the process of uploading and updating my www.thedoctorscoach.co.uk web site. However keeping in mnd that life is not all work and there is a life out there too I'm getting ready to go to Sweden tomorrow, to see my grandchildren so I think the final bits will be completed when I return.

I've been reflecting about what it is about retirement which makes some people apprehensive. Maybe it's because of the change in identity which happens. If you have spent all your working life dealing with people, then there is a certain enjoyment and pleasure about people making contact and being able to guide and help them. As a doctor I really enjoyed that part of my work and to some extent I get similar satisfaction from coaching too. So when I think about when might be the time to retire from coaching I get the same sort of emotions as when I considered retiring from Medicine. So no retirement for me yet!