Write Your Way to a Happy Retirement

Yes, you can write your way to a happy retirement. I know, not because I read it somewhere, but because I lived it. More correctly, I am living it. You see The Best Is Yet To Be began with journals or blogs, like this one.

Those of you who have read my book know how it all started—with me on the floor, hopeless and clueless about this thing called retirement—this thing everyone seems to want.

Until they don’t. Until they lack either the funds or passion or both to make the dream work. That is, if they have a dream.

Which points to the thesis of my book. The retirement crisis in America is primarily a crisis of hope, and hope comes from dreams.

But what if you don’t know what your dreams are?

That’s where writing comes in. Holocaust survivor-turned-essayist Elie Wiesel wrote, “I write in order to understand as much as to be understood.”  Playwright Edward Albee added, “I write to find out what I’m thinking about.” Writing teachers call it “writing to learn.”

There is a power in writing things down. We both see new things and gain new perspective on old things. We can discover, or more likely, rediscover our dreams. And dreaming dreams is the first step in dreams-come-true.

Which is why I’ve written The Best Is Yet To Be Journal. Because the most important story you (my readers) will read on retirement is not the one I wrote, but the one you will write, the one that will shape you, as you shape it.

And I could use your help on this one. I need some first-readers to test my writing prompts to see if they do what I’m hoping for (get you to envision and plan your retirement dreams). Anyway, if you’re interested, message me on FB or email (mike@mikebellah.com).

And, in case I haven’t said it lately, thank you. Thank you for sharing this journey with me, hopefully, gaining encouragement from me as I do from you.