I own my own time. I am retired with a modest income that meets my needs and desires. I can share my time and my ideas as I desire and I am willing to help others in ways that make mutual sense. Improving communication skills is something I discovered over years of terror at the thought of standing in front of an audience to speak.

If I Knew then… Communication is more than words.

• Concept: Record Thoughts, Considerations, Questions, Methods and Skills to Accomplish it.
• List: Search for others who Share the Goal or Complementary or Supplementary Goals.
• Content: Acquire Cultural, Political, and Scientific Knowledge and Opinions/Methods
• Evaluation: Devise Time and Methods for Group and/or Self-Evaluation and Goal Setting
• Collaboration: Are You a Valuable Member of a Group as well as an Interesting Individual?
• Product: Physical, or Digital? Research/Coaching/Curation–(21st Century Plastic)

The following is a mind experiment for what I would do if I were 16 years old now and had the business, education, social and political information that I have acquired over 64 years of active inquiry and the ability to communicate with others. 

We will discuss more about the points above, but for now it is important to develop the mindset of preparing for likely obstacles and thinking about safety plays (those little tricks that usually don’t make a difference, but they don’t cost you anything, and when they do make a difference, you are really glad you developed the habit.)

It is critical to have some savings that you can use in case of emergency if at all possible. Try to have a friend you can visit if things get hard to handle, and be sure to offer hospitality in return whenever possible. Pay it forward is a new phrase for an old concept…one that is great to revive at any time.

What happens if your parents or family is unable to contribute or has extra costs for care or living? Are you looking at friends and family as intruders or as allies? What you expect, you are more likely to get. With the internet and once or twice a week outings, I cannot imagine anything that I would be missing outside my home. So it sounds like I could share a car with two other people with similar light needs, or with one other person who had scheduled needs for workdays and shopping. In America today (and it is changing rapidly) Most adults in the past had a near rite of passage to own a car. In large cities with good transportation facilities, many people do not even have driver’s licenses, but in Phoenix, AZ it is a real hassle not to have a car and hell without a driver’s license if you have to get a job, or cannot walk or ride a bike for half a mile or less in summer.

If you are becoming an active participant in life, you are probably happily running through a list of things you can look at differently in the morning.