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Don’t Retire from Life
Eric Belliveau • May 3, 2017

There’s a frequent statement that we hear almost every day, “I can’t wait to retire.” Sometimes, we even say it ourselves. I have been having frequent conversations about the topic lately and it’s interesting getting peoples’ perspective of it. Some say they feel that retirement is giving up your commitments to start doing the things you love again. Then, on the other side, they say that retirement is when you almost stop living… In other words, “a body in motion, stays in motion.”

When I was at the Arnold Classic, a woman asked Arnold Schwarzenegger what his ideal age to live to would be. Being 69 years old now, he was perplexed by the question. He thought about the question for the moment and finally said that he never thinks about when the end of his life will be. He said he believes that the end of your life begins when you retire. He went on to say that he will NEVER stop doing what he’s doing, because it’s what drives him towards something every day. It keeps him alive and it keeps him living, which I think being alive and living are completely two different things. I think we need to realize which one are we doing.

Now retirement, I’m not just talking about retiring from your job, but it could also be from stopping what you once loved doing. For example, I would always state that I “retired from boxing.” I used to be a boxer for 8 years and it was something that made me feel alive . I stopped for 4 years for work and school reasons, until this past year. It was brought to my attention that I wasn’t doing something for myself , something that made me feel alive. Boxing came back to my attention once I started teaching boxing classes. This past weekend, I went back to my old boxing gym with my old trainer and trained for 3 hours. Let me tell you, it was overwhelming thinking about going back; I was scared. During those three hours, it felt damn good to be back inside the place where you feel that “whole.” Don’t get me wrong, it was freakin’ hard and I have never sweat so much in my life. I wanted to throw up like 3 times. My entire body feels like I tore every muscle. I know I’m out of boxing shape, but these feelings are reminding me that I feel ALIVE. With time, I will be back to where I was 8 years ago, but all that matters is that I’m out of “retirement” and it was probably the best thing I could have ever done for myself.

The point of this blog was to remind you to never stop, or “retire”, from the things you love and live for in life. These are the things that keep us going. If you want to desperately retire from your job simply because you hate it, then maybe it’s not too late to find a different job that keeps you going and makes you feel alive again. Remember what you LOVED doing, even back to when you were a kid, like fishing with your dad! Go fishing with him one day, if he’s not here anymore, go alone in his spirit. Those are the things that will make you feel alive again.

Life is Short. Never Settle. Never Retire.

The Meat Hangover

By Eric Belliveau • October 7, 2020
When it comes to taking meat out of your diet, some people have the idea that they will only see positive changes immediately following this choice. While those positive changes are definitely part of the deal, so is an adjustment period for your body.

We're Trying

By Eric Belliveau • September 23, 2020
We were all thrown on this crazy ride together. Emotions were running high but so were patience, empathy, inclusion, and respect. Most of us could rally behind the #WeAreInThisTogether manta. We wanted to do right by each other - donate to charities, lend a hand, check-in on one another. Do our part. As the days turn to weeks and the weeks into months these dispositions decayed rapidly. I know that this Quarantine order has been going on for a long time. I know that a great number of us do not agree on the why. I know an even greater number of us are “over it”. I am painfully aware of the difference of opinions surrounding the pandemic. It is impossible to NOT be aware of this. This leads us all to frustration, anger, resentment, and the feeling that you are not being heard. Very real and very human emotions! It is okay to feel this way. I am not only writing this from the perspective of a fellow struggling human. I do find myself struggling with everything I mentioned above. Not just daily but multiple times a day. My ability to focus has been challenged by my worry. My ability to create time for myself and focus on self-care has been derailed for fear of other things becoming more pressing. I work on this every day. I am not only writing this from the perspective of one of the business owners who were never given a playbook for this. For weeks on end I thought WTF happened to the business and how would our model need to change and remain viable, how each business owner had to either weather a period in which we were completely shut down or allowed to operate under capacity restrictions, etc. The unknown of what the timeline would bring and whether we would be able to continue our dreams or make an extremely difficult decision of not continuing. This still haunts every one of us daily. I AM very much writing this as a service provider! I am writing this as an impassioned human who genuinely loves what I do for a living. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to have built a career surrounding something I get excited about every day. I am making a stand for all of us that make their living in the service industry. To the receptionist, hostess, waiter, cook, dry cleaner, teacher, technician, barista, utility worker, automobile service technician… It is truly impossible to be inclusive of everyone here.  No one human mentioned above asked for this ‘situation’ we are in. We are sure as hell trying to provide a level of normalcy, service, care, and happiness to the lives in which we choose to serve. With added restrictions, added expense decreased capacity and the fear of being fined or shut down for doing it incorrectly, everyday.

The Meat Hangover

By Eric Belliveau • October 7, 2020
When it comes to taking meat out of your diet, some people have the idea that they will only see positive changes immediately following this choice. While those positive changes are definitely part of the deal, so is an adjustment period for your body.

We're Trying

By Eric Belliveau • September 23, 2020
We were all thrown on this crazy ride together. Emotions were running high but so were patience, empathy, inclusion, and respect. Most of us could rally behind the #WeAreInThisTogether manta. We wanted to do right by each other - donate to charities, lend a hand, check-in on one another. Do our part. As the days turn to weeks and the weeks into months these dispositions decayed rapidly. I know that this Quarantine order has been going on for a long time. I know that a great number of us do not agree on the why. I know an even greater number of us are “over it”. I am painfully aware of the difference of opinions surrounding the pandemic. It is impossible to NOT be aware of this. This leads us all to frustration, anger, resentment, and the feeling that you are not being heard. Very real and very human emotions! It is okay to feel this way. I am not only writing this from the perspective of a fellow struggling human. I do find myself struggling with everything I mentioned above. Not just daily but multiple times a day. My ability to focus has been challenged by my worry. My ability to create time for myself and focus on self-care has been derailed for fear of other things becoming more pressing. I work on this every day. I am not only writing this from the perspective of one of the business owners who were never given a playbook for this. For weeks on end I thought WTF happened to the business and how would our model need to change and remain viable, how each business owner had to either weather a period in which we were completely shut down or allowed to operate under capacity restrictions, etc. The unknown of what the timeline would bring and whether we would be able to continue our dreams or make an extremely difficult decision of not continuing. This still haunts every one of us daily. I AM very much writing this as a service provider! I am writing this as an impassioned human who genuinely loves what I do for a living. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to have built a career surrounding something I get excited about every day. I am making a stand for all of us that make their living in the service industry. To the receptionist, hostess, waiter, cook, dry cleaner, teacher, technician, barista, utility worker, automobile service technician… It is truly impossible to be inclusive of everyone here.  No one human mentioned above asked for this ‘situation’ we are in. We are sure as hell trying to provide a level of normalcy, service, care, and happiness to the lives in which we choose to serve. With added restrictions, added expense decreased capacity and the fear of being fined or shut down for doing it incorrectly, everyday.
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