"I'm proud of you" - How to Inspire Retired Peeps

I got to spend the day speaking at a retirement community is Sac City Iowa.

I was a bit nervous before heading in.

What would I say to inspire people who are older than me?

Would they listen?  Would they care?  

Would what I say apply to them and their lives?

How do I challenge them to set goals in the later years of their life?

These were some of the questions rolling around in my head. 

I quickly discovered I needed to share my story, to be myself and not pretend I had all the answers.  That's what I did, and it went over really well, plus I gained a lot of wisdom from the wonderful residents I met.  

Darleen and I

I met a guy named Howard who is an expert woodworker.  Here is a picture of him and some of the things he made out of wood.  It is absolutely astounding some of the things he was able to create with wood.  I pointed out his buffalo and told him "I ran with a buffalo once."  He thought that was pretty neat.

Howard and some of his wood art 

Howard carved this boot out of wood.  Pretty neat, huh???

I also met a wonderful lady named Audrey.  Right after I was done speaking, she came up and said, "Thanks for sharing that.  Everything you talk about is how I try to live my life.  Setting goals is so very important to me, it gives me some meaning and purpose.  In fact, one of my current goals is to walk a mile every single day."

Audrey and I

I really enjoyed spending my time in the retirement community.  Yes, the people are retired and are a bit older than me, however they haven't stopped living.  You have people writing, playing piano, walking, carving wood and doing random acts of kindness.

In fact, one lady came up after I spoke and told me, "I'm proud of you."  Her comment made my day.

This Saturday, I hope to be making my way back to the retirement community with some middle school students, so they too can experience how cool the people in the retirement community are.


Some of the stories I shared:  
Chilling with Lou and her stuffed cat
When your water freezes, you know it's cold
Dean taught me how to make a wooden coffee cup