Yeah, baby, the best is yet to come

Tomorrow I tick over the big ‘seven zero’, and for the past few months, it’s been doing my head in.

I have questioned everything from health conditions to career-path options to housing locations, and all I’ve achieved is a rather unpleasant disposition and a whole new raft of aches and pains from ridiculously distorted (attempted) sleeping positions.

I refused to have a party, claiming  that age is only a number, but we all know it’s denial.

There’s something terrifying about being officially old, so, “avoid at all  cost”, I say.

In a desperate attempt to find some inspiration, solace or a moment of distracting humour, I dusted off a copy of what I like to call my first book, Runaway Retiree (available on Amazon in Kindle format and hard copy).

The stories and strategies are intended to get a few laughs and remind the reader that all the cool things they did (and got away with) in the ’70s set them up to achieve anything they set their mind to. What’s changed?

The tagline is: “I grew up in the ’70s. I’m going to do my best work in my 70s”.

The aim is to help baby boomers rediscover how they felt in the ’70s by telling outrageous (but true) stories of my teens and early 20s that my readers can relate to.

I’m sure there are some sly smiles as similar memories are recalled, and my wife laughed out loud several times before asking, “Did you really…?”

“Yep.”

By immersing ourselves in the best music of all time (very loudly, I hope), our body and spirit come alive with feelings of freedom, optimism and adventure.

Don’t be afraid to bop and bob your head as you soak in the incorrigible ’70s vibes. After all, it was this positivity that got us started on our life’s journey and carried us to where we are now.

The ’70s was an era of meaningful protest, for peace, equality and environmental awareness.

We drew inspiration from the Franklin Dam boycott, Greenpeace  whale rescues, anti-war marches and rallies promoting equality and  anti-discrimination.

Back then, it was all about being cool.

The coolest thing you could do was rebel and it was even cooler if you were fighting for a cause. Survival was important, too, giving credibility to the crazy stunts that the oldies shook their heads at in disgust.

We call it risk versus reward these days, but we just did it because we could.

Think of all the super-cool technology that we can’t live without today.

Mobile phones, personal computers and the internet were all invented and actualised by baby boomers.

Hell, we were good! We were bullet-proof, fearless, defiant, misunderstood, inspired, angry, impertinent, daring, playful, zany, sociable and open minded. And proud of all of it.

Allow me to quote from Page 30: “It is important to rekindle the feelings we experienced in the ’70s so we can tackle the causes that exist in our 70s. In the 1970s, we were fighting for the underdogs. Now, in our 70s, we are the underdogs.” This is the first time since my book was published that I have read it through and truly felt the value of recapturing the feelings of my youth as the reality of maturation shakes me to  the core.

I realise that I can’t do what I used to, but I can definitely feel the same emotions and have the same self-belief.

No point being grumpy – that’s for  old people.

I’ve got my whole life ahead of me: not as much timewise as in 1975 but with a sh*tload of experience.

So, sock it to me, baby, and I’ll catch you on the flipside.

If this article resonates with you, I would love to hear from you. Contact charliegriffithscoaching.com.

 Charlie Griffiths is a certified life coach and Neuro Linguistic Programming practitioner.