Retirement is often considered to be the long tea-time of the soul, a passage from an active life and career into a quiet convalescence and pestering the children while spoiling the grandchildren. Refired, Not Retired Day turns this entire idea on its head. Retirement should be a time to get refired about your life, and using your newly found freedom to get back to living life to the fullest, not quietly getting out of the way. Are you Refired?
History of Refired, Not Retired Day
Refired, Not Retired Day was established by Phyllis May when she began her mission to start living her life large and getting her zest for life back on the heels of her retirement and her husband leaving. She started by moving to Key West, Florida, a town where she didn’t know anyone and was starting over again at the age of 55. She began taking jobs of different types to keep herself active and experience things her previous professional life prevented her from doing.
Since then she’s had a parade of interesting jobs, from working as a concierge, working through a series of temp jobs, a bed and breakfast, and now at a gift shop. Does this not sound super exciting to you? Remember that all this is happening in Key West, at a gift shop called The Pelican Poop Shop and listening to Caribbean music all day. All she needs is a cheeseburger and she’s got it made!
Things really got moving when she hosted her own television show for a year and then promoted a book called “Keys to Paradise… a fun guide to Key West”, her first publication. She isn’t living her life retired, she’s living it ReFIRED.
How to celebrate Refired, Not Retired Day
Celebrating Refired, Not Retired Day is as simple as reevaluating your idea of what it means to be retired. What have you got planned for the years after you retire? Are you planning on just wasting away or do you have big plans to experience a life refired? Don’t accept the idea that it’s all over but the crying when you retire, instead dive in and make the most of your golden years by living the dreams you set aside. Get ReFIRED!
