GREEN LIGHTS
I listened to Matthew McConaughey’s Green Lights while on a road trip with my daughter at the end of this summer. His wordy, witty banter all strung together with his Texas twang made us smile and reflect on the lessons he learned. McConaughey, believes that “a green light is being kind to our future self. It’s things in our life that affirm our way, they say ‘go, proceed, more, please carry on. While yellow and red lights make us slow down in life — they can be crisis, hardship, intervention, interruption.”
He explains further “The verb of the green light metaphor is really in the yellow light, meaning you have the choice to slow down and stop and let it become a red light, which sometimes we need to do in life when we need to have some introspection.” Finally, he says, “I found all the red and yellow lights in life revealed themselves to have at least a green light asset in the future. They have a lesson in them that we were supposed to learn. Any hardship, any pause we took, any intervention, interruption… they have green light assets that will be revealed to us later.” McConaughey adds, “Red and yellow lights eventually turn green in the rearview mirror.”
I have been battling the loss of my restaurant career and embracing my pivot into Senior Living. When I was deciding what to be when I grow up at the ripe age of 58, I sat down and wrote my skill set on a paper. Thirty two years in the hospitality business made me good at: reading people, accessing what people needed not just wanted, putting out fires, and closing the sale. I traded pasta dishes for the safety and care of older Americans. I have become a more empathetic listener and now understand the fear behind crisis management. I feel good about the work I do and satisfied when a senior thrives after their move to independent living, assisted living, or memory care communities. This transition was a green light moment for me.
After spending four days at a retreat with my two childhood best friends who opened Senior Living Specialists offices in Philly and Chicago this last week, I now also understand that my new career reunited me with my besties in a profound way. We were banding together to do “good work” in our prospective cities while rekindling our relationships with each other. We all have had our ups and downs and have been there for each other over the years but spending time learning, encouraging, planning, and dreaming with each other took our friendship to another level.
Medicare Open Enrollment
Medicare’s Open Enrollment Period is from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, 2020. This is the time to review your Medicare health insurance and prescription drug coverage for next year. I want to make sure that you understand the importance of open enrollment and that you have the resources to make the most-informed decisions.
By reviewing your coverage each year, you identify pitfalls that could derail your long-term financial plan and you identify potential savings. There are many insurance changes this year like the amounts you pay in premiums and deductible increases. Insurance carriers can also change their drug formularies, meaning a drug that costs you a few dollars each month could double or triple in price next year if dropped from your carrier’s formulary.
You do not have to understand all the plans and details to conduct a thorough review. There are professionals out there that can review your current plan, tell you how it would change next year, compare it to other plans and help you find one that fits your specific needs and budget. You do not pay anything for this service, and you are not obligated to change or purchase anything.
If you want to talk to someone about reviewing your plan reach out to me at lori@seniorlivingspecialistshouston.com and I will put you in touch with a couple wonderful professionals in my network.
