This blog is written by Lee Gale Gruen to help Baby Boomers, seniors, retirees, and those soon to retire find joy, excitement, and satisfaction in life after retirement. Her public lecture on this subject is titled: “Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement.” Her memoir, Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class, is available by clicking here Amazon.com. Click here for her website: http://AdventuresWithDadTheBook.com
CHITCHAT: I will be giving free public lectures titled: “Reinventing Yourself in Your Senior Years” on the following dates, times, and locations (RSVP REQUIRED):
July 19, 2018, 10:30am, Covenant Village of the Great Lakes Retirement Community, 2510 Lake Michigan Dr NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504 (616) 259-0408, www.covenantgreatlakes.org/events
October 16, 2018, 1:00pm, The Holmstad Retirement Community, 700 W. Fabyan Pkwy, Batavia, IL 60510, (630) 239-1133, www.theholmstad.org
October 17, 2018, 10:30am, Windsor Park Retirement Community, 124 Windsor Park Dr, Carol Stream, IL 60188, (331) 218-3637, www.windsorparkillinois.org
October 19, 2018, 10:30am, Covenant Village of Northbrook, 2625 Techny Rd, Northbrook, IL 60062, (224) 412-8421, www.covenantnorthbrook.org
website: http://AdventuresWithDadTheBook.com
Now, on to my blog:
When we make a promise, it’s a commitment to do what we pledged we would do. It can be something as simple as meeting someone at a specific time and date, or something as large as paying for someone’s college education.
Because promises historically have been misunderstood or deliberately rescinded, society has created oath taking. In America, this usually involves raising your right hand and swearing, often on a revered object or person, to keep a promise be it telling the truth, fighting for your county, or matters of similar gravity.
Going further to insure keeping promises, the law created an instrument called a contract. Often, when we enter the complex and important promise relationship, we sign a document binding us to follow through on what we promised. If it doesn’t go smoothly according to the plan, we have courts of law with judges who will hear evidence and decide on how the promise should be interpreted and what each party is obligated to do.
In our private lives, we don’t have courts of law to force us to fulfill our promises, we only have our word. Others to whom we have made promises depend on them and might even make life altering plans according to the terms of our promise.
Are you a person who follows through with your promises, or are you one whose pattern is to break your promises when you want to manipulate the situation, when you get angry, when you’re not in the mood, or for a myriad of other reasons that suit you at the moment? If you fall into the former category, those in your life most likely trust you and value their relationship with you. If, instead, the latter classification describes you, those in your life probably don’t trust you and avoid ever depending upon you or making promises themselves that you might depend on. Worse yet, they might break promises made to you without a second thought as that has become the established modus operandi of your relationship.
Being pegged as one who can’t be depended upon to keep your promises, you isolate yourself to a lonely cave. So, if you have no clue as to why people in your life have withdrawn from you, take a look at your own behavior, and see if part of it involves failing to keep your promises.
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Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years 
Never really thought about this topic. It is Really important when dealing with kids. However, we do tend to drop acquaintances who cancel or don’t follow through. Hope you enjoyed Mother’s Day with your Family! Love, Sheila
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Yes, it’s devastating to kids when you don’t keep your promise. It can be pretty upsetting to adults, too. We all have to disappoint sometimes–we’re just human. But we should try to be dependable just as we want others to be.