Author Archive: Virginia Berger

Wanna Be Complaint Free

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Please know that I don’t believe my dear retired friends and readers complain more than other groups. I do hope, however, that we are interested in looking at our own and others’ complaints and in doing our part to reduce the negativity and divisiveness it promotes. Unity minister Will Bowen, whose goal is to distribute Complaint-Free bracelets to 1% of our world’s population, created the Complaint-Free World Movement. He defines a complaint as– “an energetic statement that focuses on the problem at hand rather that the resolution sought.” Those who take up […]

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Why legacy letters?

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Through my study of conscious aging, I have learned about the legacy we might leave behind, whether financial assets, core beliefs , experiences, or lessons learned. It wasn’t until I heard Rachael Freed at the Sage-ing International Conference, however, that this idea came alive for me in the form of legacy letters. These take our stories, or snippets of them, and extricate the lessons to pass on to others as a blessing. Hoping to inspire you as well , I share a little more about what legacy letters are and the needs […]

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How Can I Retire without my Work Support Team?

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According to the “experts”, five main benefits of work have become needs- income, purpose, time management, status, and a social network. When people plan for retirement, they should consider ways to replace these. As a retiree and a retirement coach, I have discovered a sixth work benefit that, though not as significant as the five above, should also be built into a successful retirement plan – office support services. Depending on the job, office support services might include an administrative assistant, a student assistant, a paraprofessional, a tech support person or team, […]

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Celebrating Effective Coaches!

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You may not have noticed before, but this is International Coaching Week! So maybe you aren’t excited about this, but it has motivated me to share some thoughts about a few qualities that make coaches effective. You may recognize these as the same qualities you have expressed as you “coached” family, friends, children, spouses, partners, or colleagues. Yes, you are all coaches from time to time and have no doubt received the benefits from being coached yourself. As you become more aware of qualities that coaches have learned to practice consistently, you […]

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Leaving or Repurposing your Home

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  In the past 24 hours I have listened to an interview of Dr. Bill Thomas, “The Magic of Minka”, and attended a class at SDSU’s Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), “Rethink Home: Benefits to ‘Rightsizing’ Your Home and Lifestyle.” Both turned out to be related to housing as we age, so, going with the synchronicity of the moment, I share some of the highlights. How many of you are willing to let go of the house where you raised your children? Now that my husband and I have converted our sons’ bedrooms […]

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A New Practice for the New Year

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Whether you believe in making New Year’s resolutions or not, this is a good time to reflect on how things are going for you and to commit to making some changes or renewing some goals that require more time or a different strategy. This year as I was contemplating all this, I was also reading and discussing Mark Nepo’s book, The Endless Practice: Becoming who You Were Born to Be. My readers and I found his recommended six practices powerful guides for 2018, so I wanted to share one that spoke to […]

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Three Paths to Aging – Which will you Choose?

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As I looked around the room filled with my former colleagues from Grossmont/Cuyamaca, all retired, I wondered how they would react to my introduction to “conscious” aging.   I knew each one would have a different take. Some enjoy time with their grandchildren, and others love to travel. Some are learning how to be single again after losing spouses. Others have struggled with a serious illness. Some are still teaching part-time, and at least one has written a book on her family’s history. The outstanding retiree we honored, Phebe Burnham, wakes up each […]

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