15 Things You Should Do (or Learn) By the Time You’re 62

by Kassandra Lamb

This was inspired by a Huffington Post blog post my daughter-in-law shared on Facebook recently, called 30 Things That Will (Probably) Happen in Your 30’s. I highly recommend it.

So having just turned 62, I thought I would share the things I think are most important to do in life. I figured 62 things would be a little much, so here are 15:

photo by Gisele Porcaro from Brasília Brasil CC-BY 2.0

1.  Go skinny-dipping, at least once.

Do it again if you enjoy it.

2.  Buy something expensive that you don’t need but you really want.

Enjoy it without guilt!

3.  Enjoy sex! (Enough said.)

4.  Love passionately at least once in your life, even if you get your heart broken!

5.  Learn not to listen to negative people or those who put you down–ignore them, walk away, tell them to f**k off, if you must. Do not hit them; they are not worth going to jail for.

6.  Hang on through the bad times; they will pass. Savor the good times; they will pass.

7.  Hug your children and tell them you love them every day; if you don’t have your own, hug somebody else’s kids at least once a month (with their permission so you don’t get arrested).

As a matter of fact, hug the adults in your life as often as possible. Hugs are the vitamin C of the heart.

photo by Mark Sebastian CC BY SA 2.0 Wikimedia Commons

8.  Acknowledge that you are angry at your parents for some of the things they did or did not do when you were a kid. Get some therapy about that, or at the very least, yell at an empty chair pretending it is your mom or dad (or both) sitting there.

9. Don’t talk to them about it unless you really think it will make your relationship better in the here and now. DO talk to them about it if you DO think it will make things better.

Then, work on forgiving them. They did the best they could with the parenting skills they learned from their parents. You will probably do better, but your kids will be angry with you for something different.

10.  Take care of your body; indeed strive to love it. It’s the only one you’ll get. So do the best you can with what you’ve got and then don’t worry about how you look.

A watercolor painter in Italy (photo by Dongio, public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

11.  Find a career doing something that will make you glad to get out of bed in the morning; if your job doesn’t do that for you, pursue your passion through an avocation.

Life is too short to not spend at least some of it doing something that thrills you!

photo by Johntex, CC-BY-2.5, Wikimedia Commons)

12.  Along those lines, be creative! Paint pictures, write stories or poetry, carve duck decoys, knit scarves for people who won’t wear them–you don’t have to be great at what you’re creating, but there is something about being creative that feeds our souls.

13.  Learn not to say anything if you don’t like the person your son or daughter is dating. After the break-up, stifle your own anger and be a good listener/counselor (this will become your role more and more with semi-grown and grown children).

If they marry the person you don’t like, definitely keep your mouth shut! If they marry a good person, tell your daughter/son-in-law how glad you are that they’re part of your family. Repeat some variation of this message at least once a year. (Are ya listenin’, Gina? 😀 )

photo by Mathias Klang from Göteborg Sweden CC-BY 2.0 Wikimedia

14.  Cherish your friends. At the end of the day, you will count them amongst your greatest treasures.

15.  Laugh with them often, for laughter is a healing balm for the heart.

Anything you think should be added to the list?

Oh, by the way, I’ve just re-released the second book in my series (after some revisions to improve the writing; the story’s the same). So if you haven’t read this one yet, check it out. And it’s got a spiffy new cover!

ILL-TIMED ENTANGLEMENTS, A Kate Huntington Mystery

No good deed goes unpunished! When Kate Huntington agrees to help Rob Franklin’s elderly aunt with a problem, the “problem” ends up dead and Kate ends up in the middle of a police investigation. Kate’s second adventure in this series has a cozy mystery flavor, and a budding romance to spice things up.

AMAZON      BARNES & NOBLE    KOBO    APPLE

And it will be available in paperback on Amazon very soon!

Posted by Kassandra Lamb. Kassandra is a retired psychotherapist turned mystery writer. She writes the Kate Huntington mystery series.

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