Changing Careers

One of my first thoughts as I emerged from my initial funk (the first of many, I expect) was whether this should accelerate or delay the move to a 2nd half of life career for me.

On the side of delaying are the following:

An increased need for continuing medical coverage. This might be better served by building more of a nest egg for health care premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.

Since my pension will be my biggest income stream in retirement, staying longer on my current job would serve to increase the income I'll have for future needs.

Delaying receipt of social security is also a strategy for maximizing my income to cover all my expenses, including medical ones. The easiest path to delaying receipt of social security is to keep working in my present job, although work in my first half career is not the only way to delay drawing social security.

ON the side of moving ahead with my 2nd half career are:

I'll probably need/want more time to accomplish the fitness goals that will be part of my disease management plan, so transferring to my 2nd half career (which should allow me more time and flexibility for fitness work) might make better sense than trying to keep up with the constant travel required by my current work.

Further, starting an income stream that I am likely to be more capable of continuing over the long haul, say to age 70 perhaps, would serve me better in the long run than would clinging to my 1st half career as long as possible. If I wait until then to start a 2nd half career it might be harder to get traction and get it off the ground. No time like the present.

Continuing to travel, especially alone, at the quantity and frequency that I do now will become problematic at some point. (Question for my medical team--what can I do to ward off the limitations that might interfere with my travelling? How quickly might this become an issue?)

Fleshing out what this 2nd half career would look like could help motivate/energize my

All this thinking seems to be driving me away from facing this squarely, so I put it aside...

What's In A Name?

In a week, I will officially have a named disease. I'm self-diagnosed (with a little help from my Internet friends--WebMD and MayoClinic.com) with Parkinson's disease. For no good reason, it's put me in a tailspin. You can probably guess, based on the name of the disease, that I am "of a certain age." More than 80% of those diagnosed with PD are age 60 or older--I am in my 60th year. I have three of the four major symptoms, and am showing signs of several of the less-common symptoms.

All this I learned from WebMD and MayoClinic.com. The symptoms are painless--if little awkward--tremors of the hand and leg, just on one side. Tremors occur at rest and disappear with movement. Walking seems to take a little more conscious thought than it used to, and balance seems a tad less reliable. I'm displaying, according to my ever-loving spouse, a tendency to speak more softly and to enunciate less clearly. My handwriting is changing, becoming less legible and somewhat smaller. I stoop over, it seems to me, like an old man. The spouse referred to above assures me I have always walked like that, so....

This is all observed against a backdrop of reading symptoms available on the subject--how much of this is the power of suggestion?

On the positive side, several things have appeared in my life just in time to support me in dealing with the litany of complaints I just mentioned. First, I know a fitness trainer who specializes in combating the decaying physical capabilities that are often mistaken for the normal process of aging--things like posture, flexibility, balance and mobility. Second, I belong to what is probably among the top 2 or 3 percent of Toastmasters clubs in the country. So I have ample opportunity to practice making myself heard.

I'm spending time thinking through taking charge of my disease, lining up who will be ion my "team," identifying my options, evaluating them to see what's best for me and putting plans into action. All this fits with an interest I've cultivated over the past several years, building a strong second half of life.

So what's in a name? Oh, I've had health risk factors before, (overweight, elevated blood pressure, high cholesterol) but not one that had a last name like this one--disease. I'm blogging here to get my log book started--it's part of my disease management plan and I'm taking charge.

(Written March 2nd, transferred to blog 3/12/2010)