Thursday, September 12, 2013 – Z.I.T.S.
I can't believe that tomorrow I am attending the Zumba Instructor Training for Sudbury. The course runs from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, with no real breaks – save enough time to pour water and stuff food into oneself. If you want to know what just one hour of Zumba Basic looks like, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md1QpCLvDs0
What was I thinking?!
Actually, I know exactly what I was thinking. But it will take a few paragraphs to get there.
I’m 56. My job as a Counselor at Laurentian University is over – was over as of 2011, due to cutbacks. We plan to move to St. Catharines in 2015, so to start up a private practice doesn’t make any sense. It takes three years for a new endeavour to even become noticed, let alone regularly used.
And, while I could apply for jobs elsewhere, truth is, I have the opportunity to spend Decembers and Aprils in Arizona. Not many employers are happy to see their employee beg off during their busiest months.
*****
I’m actually very knowledgeable about the pitfalls and pratfalls of early retirement, and I can tell you exactly what you need to do in order not to become a sad statistic. The most dangerous years of your life are your first year – there are all kinds of nasty infections and missed abnormalities that can visit you – AND the year you retire or are retired!
It seems that, for a variety of reasons, while initially happiness and immunity increases, it then takes a drastic nosedive. You have heard of folks who have died within a year of retirement and you are likely thinking, “I’d better retire before I drop.” It’s as likely that they “dropped” because they retired.
I am getting back to Zumba, I promise.
So…there are things you can do to boost your happiness and immunity after your initial elation and then plummet. You know the usual suspects:
- Eat good food
- Drink lots of water (and little of the other “fluids.”)
- Exercise at least ½ hour a day
- Early to bed, early to rise.
- Make sure you have lots of positive social interactions
- Keep in touch with family and friends
- Be part of a Faith and/or humanitarian community that meets weekly (or close to it)
- Learn to do something new every year
And so on, and so forth.
But for some folks, it’s not enough. They need to do regular “reboots.” Something very different. If you are fairly wealthy, you can volunteer in a country that is scary by Canadian terms. For two to four weeks you work your “abs” off doing “voluntourism,” and when you come home, you will kiss the tarmac – intentionally. You vow you will never be unhappy or sick again. Until the next time.
If you are me, you can afford to go to a one day or weekend boot camp. And that’s what this Zumba Instructor’s course will be for me. Yes, I dream of being a Zumba Instructor. But if I thought the competition was tough for Social Work or Counseling jobs… well, Zumba takes that to a whole new level.
Still, it is a kickstart. And I need one. I want to improve my cardio level because I still have dreams of being a Zumba junkie, a (slow) runner, and a swimmer who doesn’t need floaties. (It’s true, I wear floaties in the pool.) There is so much evidence out there that exercising outside of your comfort zone has all the benefits of anti-depression and anti-anxiety meds, without the side effects.
OK, there is one side effect to watch for. Collapse! Though I am assured the folks offering this course are CPR trained. And hubs has said, “If you need to leave early, just come home.” But I think he’s even more afraid that I’ll like it because … Zumba is for men too!
In fact, there is a T-Shirt I can buy tomorrow, “Real Men Do Zumba!” Alas, on the back it reads … Um, you’d have to message me for the punch line!
(Message: Here's the joke. "I did zumba today. What I mean is I danced around in a line for the bathroom, trying not to p*ss myself to terrible music.")
What was I thinking?!
Actually, I know exactly what I was thinking. But it will take a few paragraphs to get there.
I’m 56. My job as a Counselor at Laurentian University is over – was over as of 2011, due to cutbacks. We plan to move to St. Catharines in 2015, so to start up a private practice doesn’t make any sense. It takes three years for a new endeavour to even become noticed, let alone regularly used.
And, while I could apply for jobs elsewhere, truth is, I have the opportunity to spend Decembers and Aprils in Arizona. Not many employers are happy to see their employee beg off during their busiest months.
*****
I’m actually very knowledgeable about the pitfalls and pratfalls of early retirement, and I can tell you exactly what you need to do in order not to become a sad statistic. The most dangerous years of your life are your first year – there are all kinds of nasty infections and missed abnormalities that can visit you – AND the year you retire or are retired!
It seems that, for a variety of reasons, while initially happiness and immunity increases, it then takes a drastic nosedive. You have heard of folks who have died within a year of retirement and you are likely thinking, “I’d better retire before I drop.” It’s as likely that they “dropped” because they retired.
I am getting back to Zumba, I promise.
So…there are things you can do to boost your happiness and immunity after your initial elation and then plummet. You know the usual suspects:
- Eat good food
- Drink lots of water (and little of the other “fluids.”)
- Exercise at least ½ hour a day
- Early to bed, early to rise.
- Make sure you have lots of positive social interactions
- Keep in touch with family and friends
- Be part of a Faith and/or humanitarian community that meets weekly (or close to it)
- Learn to do something new every year
And so on, and so forth.
But for some folks, it’s not enough. They need to do regular “reboots.” Something very different. If you are fairly wealthy, you can volunteer in a country that is scary by Canadian terms. For two to four weeks you work your “abs” off doing “voluntourism,” and when you come home, you will kiss the tarmac – intentionally. You vow you will never be unhappy or sick again. Until the next time.
If you are me, you can afford to go to a one day or weekend boot camp. And that’s what this Zumba Instructor’s course will be for me. Yes, I dream of being a Zumba Instructor. But if I thought the competition was tough for Social Work or Counseling jobs… well, Zumba takes that to a whole new level.
Still, it is a kickstart. And I need one. I want to improve my cardio level because I still have dreams of being a Zumba junkie, a (slow) runner, and a swimmer who doesn’t need floaties. (It’s true, I wear floaties in the pool.) There is so much evidence out there that exercising outside of your comfort zone has all the benefits of anti-depression and anti-anxiety meds, without the side effects.
OK, there is one side effect to watch for. Collapse! Though I am assured the folks offering this course are CPR trained. And hubs has said, “If you need to leave early, just come home.” But I think he’s even more afraid that I’ll like it because … Zumba is for men too!
In fact, there is a T-Shirt I can buy tomorrow, “Real Men Do Zumba!” Alas, on the back it reads … Um, you’d have to message me for the punch line!
(Message: Here's the joke. "I did zumba today. What I mean is I danced around in a line for the bathroom, trying not to p*ss myself to terrible music.")