Adjusting Is Not Too Difficult
There are many ways by which you can make your adjustment easier and faster. Among them are: 1) Making an effort to know your immediate neighbours be they Americans, Costa Ricans or of other nationalities and doing them a favour whenever possible. 2) Joining a local sports or social club and participating in some of their activities. There you'll meet other people who could have your own affinities-likes and dislikes. 3) Travelling to other towns and rural areas to learn more about the country, its sites, celebrations and customs. That will help accelerate the process by which you'll feel you're gradually becoming a stable resident of the country. This will increase your feeling of belonging and of being greatly more integrated into your new environment.
As you get older you'll want to simplify your life. You may not be up to a business or hobby which demands great energy unless you can get around easily and are always on the go. Some businesses and hobbies, however, don't demand much land, money and special equipment so you may want to try them. But if you should not want a business or a hobby, you might want to write, paint, and learn to play the piano, sew, raise parakeets, or plant a flower garden. In that case, you should by all means go ahead and do it. Don't defer the action.
Widening your interests makes you a more interesting person to yourself, your spouse, and friends. And you'll live healthier by putting extra effort on eating properly, exercising moderately, getting sufficient sleep and relaxation. Ancients in history exhorted, as did Goethe, when he said: "As we journey through life let us live by the way. One ought to everyday to at least hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible at all, to speak a few reasonable words." Dr. Oliver Wendel Holmes once said: "I had much to learn, and at eighty, I found new vistas opening all around me."
It isn't exaggerated then to say that to spend a really happy retirement in Costa Rica, or practically anywhere else, you should be interested in people, places and events. You'll then be satisfying to yourself and interesting to others.
|
