This blog is written by Lee Gale Gruen to help retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors reinvent themselves in this new stage of their lives called retirement. Her blog, public lecture, and new self-help book on senior reinvention are titled: Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire. Her memoir is: Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class. Books descriptions follow her blog below. Both books are available at Amazon.com by clicking here and here. Her website is: LeeGaleGruen.com
Now, on to my blog:
We are all hiding some parts of ourselves from the light of day. They are those parts we don’t want to reveal to others lest they disapprove, judge, and deem us unworthy or undesirable. Yes, everyone has those hidden aspects no matter how attractive, rich, personable, or privileged they might be.
We have learned along the way what is socially acceptable and what is not. We skillfully hide our not-so-attractive parts with a magician’s sleight-of-hand. We keep talking constantly so as to deflect our audience from potentially discovering our flaws. We toss out glib remarks to detour others from learning our secrets. We withhold personal details to keep them from gaining an upper hand.
The downside is that our hypervigilance becomes exhausting and a time suck. Juggling balls is no fun. When do we get to “let our hair down” and be our authentic self?
For some, the answer is never. However, for many others as they age, they begin to realize that these great secrets they’ve spent so much time and energy hiding are not the big deals that they always thought they were. The reality is that most people are spending their attention and efforts on their own issues to care much about yours.
What I’m suggesting is to stop hiding your imperfections. I know it’s a scary thought and a complete about face from your decades old modus operandi. But, think of the upside. Your life may become so much less stressful–worrisome. (I’ve written on this topic before. Click here to read my blog of 6-26-18: “The Big Reveal” and here to read my blog of 4-29-19: “Hiding.”)
You don’t have to unmask everything at once. Try it in baby steps. Expose just one or a few of your vulnerabilities, and see how that goes. Then, assess the outcome. Have you become the pariah of your community or did people really not care? If you survived that first attempt, try another one. You may not need to let it all hang out, but at least start taking off some of your makeup and showing others what you really look like underneath. All you have to gain is a greater comfort level in your life.
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BOOKS BY: LEE GALE GRUEN
Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy, Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire (self-help): Not a one-size-fits-all approach, this self-help book for retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors offers an individualized, detailed guide to assist readers in discovering activities and pursuits in this new stage of their lives called retirement, based on their own likes and comfort level. I learned the secret the hard way transitioning from retired probation officer to actress, author, public speaker, and blogger. Audience members at my lectures on senior reinvention requested a book on the subject. This is the result, and it contains the content of those talks and six years of posts from this blog. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.
Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class (memoir): After retiring at age 60 from my 37-year career as a probation officer, I mistakenly enrolled in an acting class for seniors. A few weeks later, my mother died, and I invited my grieving, 85-year-old father to come to class with me. This is the true story of our magical journey attending that class together for three years, bonding more than ever. I wrote the comedy scenes we performed onstage twice a year in the acting class showcases, and all six scenes are included in the book. I eventually transitioned into the world of professional acting. As my fledgling, second career started going uphill, my dad’s health started going downhill. I would recount to him each of my new experiences while I sat beside his bed at the nursing home where he resided in his final years. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.
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Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years 