For the ten years plus 2young2retire has been in existence, we've been making a case that retirement is a waste of good human potential and advocating the inclusion of work – paid or not -- in later life as a way of staying healthier in body, mind and spirit. Comes the financial cataclysm of the last months, it seems as if this message has been eclipsed by pure economic necessity. If you find yourself in need of an income immediately, perhaps your dream job will have to wait for a while. For you, this is a good time to update your resume, let everyone you know what kind of work you're seeking, and freshen up your skills and business wardrobe. Adopt an attitude that there is a job worthy of your skill set, maturity and work ethic, and it's a matter of finding it.

Back in October, syndicated columnist Mark Miller (Retire Smart) invited Linked In members to submit their best ideas for finding a job after age 50. You could do worse that take a look at these suggestions from a cross-section of people, http://retirementrevised.com/column/tips-for-finding-a-job-after-age-50-heres-the-wisdom-of-the-crowd, including a tip from yours truly. If you haven't signed up on Linked In, do it now. It's the fastest way to reconnect with former colleagues and jump start a new professional network. Put the Six Degrees of Separation to work for you. Build your profile. Invite others in. Answer a question and/or put up a provocative question of your own. Read blogs in an area of work that interests you.

If you want to get up to speed on how the workplace is changing, a good place to begin is with Seth Godin's blog, e.g. Small is the New Big is one entry that resonates with me, but poke around and see what else you can glean. Godin's 99Cows is an irreverent look at emerging business trends that is a lot of fun to read. Click, read the citation and download the ebook. Also check out Tom Peters' Excellence for the Rest of Us. Both Godin and Peters give away tons of useful material, which is a good example of how to cultivate relationships.

You can't do a whole lot about the state of the economy – that's in the hands of the president-elect and his new team – but you can stop reading the dire headlines and focus on looking for work. There are several new job boards, one that specializes in the mature hire and another that filters for work in the nonprofit sector which has tended to be more age-friendly.

Retirement Jobs Age Friendly Employer Certification lets you post a resume on line as well as search for job openings at employers who do not practice age discrimination, e.g. Borders, Staples and Toys 'R' Us. RJ will also help you smarten up your resume and interviewing skills, and it is eager to hear your success story for its podcasts. Also check out Retired Brains and AARP's Best Employers for Workers Over 50.

Encore.org has teamed up with Career Builder to beta test the Encore Career Finder, a job search tool for people interested in working in the nonprofit, government, environmental, healthcare and social service sectors. 2young2retire Links has some other employment resources.

Make a little money ...

For a variety of reasons, full-time employment isn't for all of us. However, finding a way to bring in some income can go a long way to easing our concerns about the future. Earn just $5,000 -$10,000 a year to replace what you plan to draw down from your retirement account, and let that continue to grow. If you've become faint of heart about your investments – and haven't we all during the recent roller-coast ride – follow the lead of Warren Buffet and invest in our country.   Infrastructure, education, health care, and alternative energy, all represent categories of work not so readily exported like the manufacturing jobs of the past, and these will produce the new products and services of the future. That's where to look for work now. Read Van Jones' new book, The Green Collar Economy for another persuasive argument about investing close to home.

OK, now let me wrap a pitch for Too Young to Retire: 101 Ways to Start the Rest of Your Life (Plume 2004) around an offer you cannot refuse. Nearly five years since it was published, Too Young to Retire is the only book targeting boomers and older, with a list of actual opportunities to supplement income, and the online links to check them out. It's clearly time for a new edition. Until we work that out with our publisher, we are offering anyone who owns the book currently, or buys it during the month of December (email marika@2young2retire.com a copy of your receipt) an update of the Resources and the 'Cool Careers' we've collected here since the Plume edition.  

And finally, here's a holiday gift based on a stress relief workshop I led recently for the First Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palm Beaches where we are members.

Seven Tips to Get Through Just About Anything (even the holidays)

• Reframe stress as a natural reaction to change which is part of life, in fact, we might not have survived as a species without adapting to various kinds of stress in our environment.
  

• Keep a soft belly as you go about your day. Occasionally, stop what you're doing, inhale through your nose and exhale completely through gently pursed lips. Imagine your belly as a deep, powerful place. Feel breath coming and going. Repeat 10 times, relaxing more fully with each repetition.
  

• Tense and relax. Tense legs and feet and relax. Make fists, tighten arms, bring shoulders up to the ears as you inhale. Hold, then release everything with a big sigh. Repeat.
  

• Stretch: To get oxygen flowing, sit up straight and interlock your fingers behind your head. Inhale as you pull your elbows back, stretching your upper back and chest muscles. Exhale and bring your elbows forward. Repeat.
  

• Head massage: Take hold of your hair, close to your scalp, and gently tug on it to release tension. Then rub your fingers in small circles over your entire head to stimulate blood flow, which reduces pain and stress.
  

• Acupressure. Use the thumb and index finger of one hand to squeeze the soft spot between the thumb and index finger of the other. Hold for three counts. Switch sides. Next: With thumb and index finger, gently squeeze each of your fingers all over. Use your thumb to rub each joint in a circular motion. Then hold each finger at its base and pull gently to stretch it, sliding your grip up the finger and off the tip.
  

• Close your eyes and create a peaceful visualization, or "dreamscape." To start, simply visualize anything that keeps your thoughts away from current tensions. It could be a favorite vacation spot, a fantasy island, that penthouse in New York City -- or something "touchable," like the feel of your favorite silk robe or cozy sweater.
  
  For more tips: email marika@2young2retire.com
  

POTPOURRI

• Attention Holiday Shoppers! Adult Mentor Coach, Dick Haid, is doing his popular “No Cost Christmas Gifts” workshop in Hamilton, OH, Monday, December 1 at 7 pm. First United Methodist Church, 255 Ludlow Street, 513-896-5683 for reservations, and December 10, 10 am, 140 Ross Avenue, 513-867-1998 for reservations. Contact Dick at dickhaid@adultmentor.com to enquire about putting together a teleclass on the same theme.
  

• Eric Utne, founder of the Utne Reader and creator of the Salon movement in the 1990s has come up with an idea that blends the salon approach with his belief that "every city, town, and village in the world needs its own council of elders." If the word 'elder' gives you the willies, Utne is out to change your mind. He aims to "redeem the word elder -- an archetypal social type, essential to any vibrant, sustainable community," and we're with him 100%. In these pages, we reported the founding of The Elders which includes Nobel Peace Prize winners Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Muhammad Yunus. Utne's Community Earth Councils brings this idea home. It will connect elders (50+) with those 16-18 of age to address global social and environmental challenges at the local level. It's an intergenerational initiative that is long overdue.
  

• Laughter is the best medicine. Adults laugh on an average of 6-8 times a day, while children about 400 times a day, says Dr. Barry Bittman of the Headache Center Neurology Institute. Terri Lonier of Working Solo has some great tips on why LOL (lots of laughs) could help save your business as well as your relationship, health and sanity. Check out the current issue. To these excellent ideas, let's add Dr. Madan Kataria's Laughter Yoga, a technique that is a life changing experience according to its creators. A combination of laughter exercises with yogic breathing, laughter yoga is based on the fact that the body cannot differentiate between real and fake laughter. Either way, more oxygen is brought to the body and brain and stress is reduced. People who can laugh at themselves and their circumstances are generally healthier.
  

Happy holidays!