FREE NEWSLETTER
IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, there are signs saying “we buy junk houses” and “we buy ugly houses.” These businesses target undesirable homes—those that have fallen on hard times and can’t be easily sold.
Maybe the homeowners couldn’t afford the upkeep or got tired of caring for the place. Whatever the reason, the result is houses that look sad and have lost market value. Contrarian buyers see the houses not for what they are, but for what they could be. They need to have a vision, plus the money and skills to turn a beast into a beauty.
You’ve probably seen these buyers profiled on TV shows about house flippers. They tear out the ugly and replace it with stylish features that appeal to today’s buyers. Sleek kitchens. Remodeled bathrooms. Updated entertainment areas. Potential buyers flock to these formerly unloved houses.
I’m witnessing a similar trend among old cars. Auctioneers routinely sell cars from the 1950s and 1960s that have gone through a makeover. The cars are either returned to their original showroom sparkle or they’ve been customized.
The customized cars, like the remodeled houses, are transformed according to the designer’s wishes. Years ago, these transformed cars didn’t find a strong market. Buyers preferred cars that had been restored to their original condition.
Then the market turned. Customized cars had better brakes, power steering, more reliable engines, and creature comforts like air-conditioning and a booming stereo. What buyers got was a car that appeared vintage but worked like a new model. That combination—a car that looked like you might have driven it in high school, but now with up-to-date features—has proved irresistible.
In my neighborhood, when people no longer want something, they leave it at the curb. If the neighbors want it, they’ll grab it. Otherwise, it will get scooped up by junkmen who circle the neighborhood in the early morning hours, piling old stuff into pickup trucks.
There’s also a population of artists who take discarded relics and transform them into sculptures. When you see their work up close, and realize what it’s made from, it’s alluring. An unwanted item has been transformed into a thing of beauty.
There’s even a cycle like this for people. At some stage in our careers, we were a thing of beauty. We were desired by our employers. We could switch jobs and negotiate a higher starting salary. We had the talents, skills and abilities that were in demand. We could market ourselves as someone desirable. We were the “in” thing.
Then we retire. Some of us start to feel like that neglected house, rusted car or unwanted sofa on the curb. We no longer shine. We can’t keep up with others. We step aside, willingly or not.
What can we do? We can remodel ourselves. We can go from what was to what could be. We can open ourselves up to new possibilities. We don’t have to accept rejection as the final word.
We can think, “What if?” When we adopt this kind of thinking, we change our focus from looking down to looking up. Remodeling ourselves may not be easy. We may not be able to do what we once did, so we have to look at our life from a different perspective. What can I do next?
I floss more. According to recent studies, good dental hygiene and particularly flossing reduces stroke risk and possibly other cardiovascular events. It was always an afterthought when I was insanely busy pre-retirement.
Great article!!
I think I will go out and sit by the curb and see if anyone comes by and picks me up. Ideally, a VERY skilled artist would find a way to transform me into a thing of beauty.
Seriously, though, continuing education programs like the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute are options for keeping the brain active, especially for exploring areas/subjects that I was never very good at and shied away from in my academic life and through my career.
Also, using quantitative/financial/computer skills that most of us have that read the Humble Dollar to give back to the community through volunteer free tax preparation services such as VITA and AARP Tax-Aide are a good way to meet people throughout the area, both other volunteers and the taxpayers who used the service.
I am reinventing myself by learning new activities. I never played sports, I now love pickleball. I am not artistic, I joined and enjoy a watercolor group. I learned to play bridge. I always loved learning, so learning new activities fits my personality. I enjoy varied novel volunteer activities. During my academic career, I tended to make friends with people who were academics. I now enjoy having friends with vastly different career/job histories. These new experiences are fascinating and fun.
I have perfected the art of doing nothing! I am perplexed at the constant advice to reinvent myself or to go find another job. I like doing nothing. I am not guilty about doing nothing. I worked 40 years to achieve the right to do nothing. Sounds like a rant maybe, but I have had to justify my retirement over and over to people who want to know “what do you do all day?”. Of course I exercise , I work on my yard, I read, etc. But what I don’t do is worry about what anyone thinks I should be doing. Cheers!!
Me too, Bro!
Getting older definitely requires more maintenance. Like the house (new roof, water heater, HVAC), continuous movement, high nutrition and getting current with that yearly physical and dental are important to update before retirement.