DELAYED SATISFACTION FOR DELAYED REGRET?

Ask Portland baby boomers about delayed satisfaction and brace yourself.

You might hear about training to climb Mt. Hood, or skiing Black Diamond trails, as well as the retirement account they focused on for forty years.

Ask about the future and expect a solid take on living for the day.

Why? Because they’ve already delayed satisfaction as far as they can.

Enough of their friends and family planned for the future and hit the exit before they got there.

How many remember this:

“It will all make sense when you’re older.”

Or: “You’re too young to understand.”

Both statements point to one thing: We’re older now.

Instead of ‘live for the future,’ now it’s ‘don’t postpone joy.’

Sounds beautiful, but what does it mean?

Re-visit your scenes of delayed satisfaction?

So, don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I knock it
It’s just that I am not in the market
For a boy who wants to love only me
Yes, and I ain’t sayin’ you ain’t pretty
All I’m saying’s I’m not ready for any person
Place or thing to try and pull the reins in on me

No one pulled the reins in on you, right boomer? You just rolled out each day with a clean slate looking for experiences to add to it. Right?

There was Bob, Carol, Ted, and Alice. Long bus rides. Weird neighbors living on their terms.

And there you were living your best life without dragging around the anchors of responsibility, accountability, and people who cared about you.

No one pulled the reins in on that freedom, if that’s what you want to call it.

Otherwise, just call it your ‘Roaring Twenties’ and leave it at that.

Re-live your triumphs, or step it up and start kickin’?

While some people may see aging boomers fading away, the survivors see themselves with gas in the tank for the longer run.

Either way, they’ll need a little help.

The over-educated segment of the boomer demographic see no reason to release the levers of power in their hands. Like Charlton Heston and his favorite gun, you’ll have to pry it from their cold, dead, hands.

In other words, they’re sticking around.

The under-educated may not have the power, but they’ve grown up with the same warnings as everyone else: Smoking, and drinking, and getting fat kills you.

You’ve seen the ads. We’ve seen more.

From the smart guys in the room, to the dim bulbs and everyone in between, they all benefit from the same fitness news. 

Can’t Get No Delayed Satisfaction?

If boomers plan on driving on the road, flying through the air, and staying on the job, they’ll need the advantage of great health to hold their place.

From Gary Carter, the author of Eliot’s Tale: “Here’s the cold, hard truth as offered by Bronnie Ware, a palliative care nurse in Australia who spent a number of years caring for patients and listening to their reflections. She collected what she heard into a book and gave it a title that pulls no punches: The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Number one on the list is, “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.””

The boomerpdx interpretation: Baby Boomers live truer to themselves more than any other generation and they still annoy everyone as much as they did their parents.

It’s the old man in the Tee Box cracking a drive further than yours.

There’s the old lady in yoga class killing it.

And the odd assortment of mountain climbers and badass skiers. Hey Cheryl.

Living your best life, that’s a joy you can’t postpone.

Just the thought of delayed satisfaction makes food taste better and drinks hit just the right spot.

If your daily habits are based on over indulgence and gluttony, you’re not delaying anything.

Why not start with this:

Give someone else the satisfaction of your undivided attention. Make them feel important by listening, actively listening.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s about listening.

Be a good listener and you will reap the unexpected rewards of friendship and joy.

Remember, don’t postpone the joy.

It may not be your idea of joy, but let’s work together.