[dillywho]

Originally Posted by MustangSally

Wow! All of your comments on "That's My Spot" post just made me decide what to do with our 3rd bedroom! We have enough exercise equipment to fill the room which can all be folded up when we have guests. I don't mind exercising on my own when classes are crowded and then joining the classes in less crowded times. That way we get more use out of the room anyway. One of the things my husband and I have relished in our retirement is the ability to be flexible, which now sometimes means avoiding rush hour and/or crowds that we don't wish to be a part of. We've learned to enjoy doing things at different times to add some variety to our lives and know that we'll even enjoy some of the crowded activities in TV that we've not had the opportunity to previously experience. Same thing with the restaurants. On our last visit, our new friends introduced us to the 4-5 PM, $5 - $6, Gator's menu. It not only saved us some money but allowed us some early evening (and different) activities that we might otherwise not have had the opportunity to enjoy. After 3 visits (and reading TOTV comments), I got over my initial "utopia" impression of TV. To us, it still beats every place else we've been and offers a wonderful lifestyle with (mostly) wonderful people to live out the rest of our lives. Life is too short to dwell on the negative. We can't wait to get to our new home in 2012 in the Village of St. James!! Thanks to all for setting realistic expectations on living in The Villages. "Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice."

Great solutions, Sally. There is always a way...we just have to sometimes be resourceful and find it.

Case in point: I had a bad experience one day when I went to play single deck pinochle at one of the rec centers. Without going into all the gory details, the attitude of the group was enough that I never went back. (BTW, I am not a novice so that was not the problem.) I was made to feel like such an outsider and that was not what I was looking for. Solution: I started a group, taught others to play (we have some experienced players as well), and insist that "not always the best play is not the end of the world". We have a great group, lots of fun, lots of laughs and a welcome interlude to any not-so-good things that might be going on with any of us. We would be happy to have more players at any time.

[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by Doodlegirl

So many pressures from economic, social, moral stressors may be contributing to "The Me Generation Grown Up"...this isn't our parents retirement years. It just may be that "I" get angry not at the person
who took "my spot", but that I've been thinking that my son just lost
his job at IBM after 25 years and I may now need to help him, that
my 401K tanked and I am wondering how much longer I can afford to
live in Lower Paradise, that the home I'm selling back in Anytown has
been on the market for nearly two years and potential buyers cannot
pass the credit issues to purchase and I'm beginning to feel the financial
belt buckle at my waist, that my physician called me yesterday afternoon
and the results of my stress test are not good.......

We come together now at a different period in history, we come when
core values are changing, or in some cases changed. We come from
a vast diversity of ethnic, racial, cultural, political and social mores and values.

And, we come with both real and percieved expectations from areas
where what we knew was a certain way of life and most of us at an
age when the end is closer than the beginning.

If one subscribes to the poliitical forum on TOTV it is clear there are
a number of grown up bully's; rampant anger; and negativity so shockingly
alive and well there. Translate that to activities such as a spot in an
exercise class and we can clearly see some people do exist in anger.
Disproportionally, perhaps, but do exist.

I've chosen to live here because I recognize I have plenty of time and space
to find the older, happier, gentler me! I can go and come with little expectation...sometimes a crowd, sometimes a walk along the Lake Sumter
Landing Boardwalk. My neighbors are terrific, and I enjoy a sense of peace.
If something is too crowded, I may leave. Lots of good television or kindle or
books at home. TV will never be all things to all people, it is really a question of how happy and satisfied we are within our own space, our own head so to speak. I am convinced the Schwartz-Morse family got it right, but as we live here, we must still remain all that WE hoped we would be and would become.

Bad behavior, impolite people, crudeness, rudeness...any of these may be exacerbated by age and space and "things". Fortunately, there are thousands and thousands of 'good' folks living here happily and amieably.
I try and make big circles around trouble. Had enough of that in my career
working with sick, sad, sorry people. There is no magic wand here in TV,
but if we are lucky, we just might find pixie dust all around us. I have.
And that is all I asked of myself for the third, third.

Elegant and thoughtful. Bravo!!!!!!!

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by Doodlegirl

So many pressures from economic, social, moral stressors may be contributing to "The Me Generation Grown Up"...this isn't our parents retirement years. It just may be that "I" get angry not at the person
who took "my spot", but that I've been thinking that my son just lost
his job at IBM after 25 years and I may now need to help him, that
my 401K tanked and I am wondering how much longer I can afford to
live in Lower Paradise, that the home I'm selling back in Anytown has
been on the market for nearly two years and potential buyers cannot
pass the credit issues to purchase and I'm beginning to feel the financial
belt buckle at my waist, that my physician called me yesterday afternoon
and the results of my stress test are not good.......

We come together now at a different period in history, we come when
core values are changing, or in some cases changed. We come from
a vast diversity of ethnic, racial, cultural, political and social mores and values.

And, we come with both real and percieved expectations from areas
where what we knew was a certain way of life and most of us at an
age when the end is closer than the beginning.

If one subscribes to the poliitical forum on TOTV it is clear there are
a number of grown up bully's; rampant anger; and negativity so shockingly
alive and well there. Translate that to activities such as a spot in an
exercise class and we can clearly see some people do exist in anger.
Disproportionally, perhaps, but do exist.

I've chosen to live here because I recognize I have plenty of time and space
to find the older, happier, gentler me! I can go and come with little
expectation...sometimes a crowd, sometimes a walk along the Lake Sumter
Landing Boardwalk. My neighbors are terrific, and I enjoy a sense of peace.

If something is too crowded, I may leave. Lots of good television or kindle or
books at home. TV will never be all things to all people, it is really a question of how happy and satisfied we are within our own space, our own head so to
speak. I am convinced the Schwartz-Morse family got it right, but as we live here, we must still remain all that WE hoped we would be and would become.

Bad behavior, impolite people, crudeness, rudeness...any of these may be
exacerbated by age and space and "things". Fortunately, there are thousands and thousands of 'good' folks living here happily and amieably.

I try and make big circles around trouble. Had enough of that in my career
working with sick, sad, sorry people. There is no magic wand here in TV,
but if we are lucky, we just might find pixie dust all around us. I have.

And that is all I asked of myself for the third, third.

What a lovely, thoughtful post.

[BigLew]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

After reading Doodlegirl's post....

I have a different take on the economic and social stressors she mentioned in the first section.

I think television and extremely biased t.v. "news" networks (ALL of them) have created a lot of envy.

I think the "It's MINE" and "I NEED more" mentalities have grown out of seeing distorted pictures of what televised fictional characters or other real people have, that we don't.

And then there is what we've been led to believe we "need" and are "owed" thru television advertising and campaigning politicians on television.

Where, besides in a few radio programs that teach debt-free living, are we taught to be content with what we have without borrowing more money than what we can actually repay?? Credit card offers flow like drinking water!

Life has taught me many things but foremost, in an economic sense, is to never belly up to the retail bar, discover for yourself the difference between want and need. If you learn that then you gain a certain immunity to the 'trumped' up reality that television wants to portray.

[Dirigo]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

After reading Doodlegirl's post....

I have a different take on the economic and social stressors she mentioned in the first section.

I think television and extremely biased t.v. "news" networks (ALL of them) have created a lot of envy.

I think the "It's MINE" and "I NEED more" mentalities have grown out of seeing distorted pictures of what televised fictional characters or other real people have, that we don't.

And then there is what we've been led to believe we "need" and are "owed" thru television advertising and campaigning politicians on television.

Where, besides in a few radio programs that teach debt-free living, are we taught to be content with what we have without borrowing more money than what we can actually repay?? Credit card offers flow like drinking water!

We don't have cable or satellite television. To say I dislike commercials would be putting it mildly. We watch movies and tv shows on Netflix. We stopped watching national news a couple of years.

We are debt free and enjoy the financial peace that was inspired by a radio program that taught debt-free living. We live within our means and do not use credit.

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by Doodlegirl

So many pressures from economic, social, moral stressors may be contributing to "The Me Generation Grown Up"...this isn't our parents retirement years. It just may be that "I" get angry not at the person
who took "my spot", but that I've been thinking that my son just lost
his job at IBM after 25 years and I may now need to help him, that
my 401K tanked and I am wondering how much longer I can afford to
live in Lower Paradise, that the home I'm selling back in Anytown has
been on the market for nearly two years and potential buyers cannot
pass the credit issues to purchase and I'm beginning to feel the financial
belt buckle at my waist, that my physician called me yesterday afternoon
and the results of my stress test are not good.......

We come together now at a different period in history, we come when
core values are changing, or in some cases changed. We come from
a vast diversity of ethnic, racial, cultural, political and social mores and values.

And, we come with both real and percieved expectations from areas
where what we knew was a certain way of life and most of us at an
age when the end is closer than the beginning.

If one subscribes to the poliitical forum on TOTV it is clear there are
a number of grown up bully's; rampant anger; and negativity so shockingly
alive and well there. Translate that to activities such as a spot in an
exercise class and we can clearly see some people do exist in anger.
Disproportionally, perhaps, but do exist.

I've chosen to live here because I recognize I have plenty of time and space
to find the older, happier, gentler me! I can go and come with little expectation...sometimes a crowd, sometimes a walk along the Lake Sumter
Landing Boardwalk. My neighbors are terrific, and I enjoy a sense of peace.
If something is too crowded, I may leave. Lots of good television or kindle or
books at home. TV will never be all things to all people, it is really a question of how happy and satisfied we are within our own space, our own head so to speak. I am convinced the Schwartz-Morse family got it right, but as we live here, we must still remain all that WE hoped we would be and would become.

Bad behavior, impolite people, crudeness, rudeness...any of these may be exacerbated by age and space and "things". Fortunately, there are thousands and thousands of 'good' folks living here happily and amieably.
I try and make big circles around trouble. Had enough of that in my career
working with sick, sad, sorry people. There is no magic wand here in TV,
but if we are lucky, we just might find pixie dust all around us. I have.
And that is all I asked of myself for the third, third.

Doodlegirl,
Awesome post. Thanks for sharing some of your pixie dust!