I will be 61 years old this year and I know that I am already in the second half of my life. However, there are still a lot of things that I want to do and achieve. Although I have retired from work, I have not yet retired from life. I want to make the second half of my life better than my first half. This is very possible due to a number of factors.

Firstly, I have more time now to pursue the things that are most important to me. In addition, I have more financial resources at my disposal compared to when I was younger. Lastly, I would like to think that I am a little bit wiser due to my experiences and had come to understand some fundamental truths a bit better. Truths like not worrying too much about other people's opinions of me or comparing my life with others. Of all the things that I want to do and achieve in the second half of my life, these three are the major wants.

1. I Want To Make The Necessary Preparations For My Autistic Son Before I Passed On.

Both my wife Roselind and I are in our 60s and my autistic son Jonathan will be 32 years this year. One of the things that always worries me and Roselind is what will happen to Jonathan when we are no longer around. Sometimes when I see a homeless person on the street, I wonder if this will happen to Jonathan when both of us are not around.

Worrying is one thing but it will take me nowhere, planning and taking action is the way to go. Fortunately, both Roselind and I receive Government pensions which can be passed on to Jonathan when we passed on. The issue is that we need someone to manage the money for him. This task has been given to his sister Victoria and we had numerous discussions about this matter.

As for living arrangements we are considering renovating our present house so that an extension with a separate entrance can be built for Jonathan. At the time time, there are now apartments with dual key concepts and so that is also a possibility. We feel that this arrangement is ideal as Victoria will not be too burdened and is able to live her own life and at the same time keep an eye on Jonathan on a daily basis.

Of course, we need to work with Jonathan so that he has the necessary life skills to be more independent when we moved on. Jonathan is low functioning, so this is an area where my wife and I had to really work on and where honestly things can get stressful. It is much easier to do things for him, but that ultimately will not help him in the long run. Now I have more time to be with Jonathan, interact with him and hopefully impart more life skills to him.

Roselind and I are the founding President and Vice-President of the Sarawak Autistic Association ( now known as the Kuching Autistic Association). Starting with almost nothing, the Association now has its own buildings and helps more than 100 autistic persons. The Association is now planning to build a building which will be used initially as a daycare center and eventually to be used as a group home for autists that have lost their parents or when the parents are unable to care for them. Funds have already been raised and building plans are being prepared.

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My wife Roselind is on the far right.

2. I Want To Be A Famous Inspirational Story Teller

As you can see from my username positivesteem, I like to write positive posts. The world needs more positivity and so I aspire to spread positivity one post at a time. This is a much more fun goal and maybe in some aspects a fantasy maybe. Who is to say a guy in his 60s cannot have big dreams? My principle is life has always been this, whatever wants, goals, or dreams I have, I will not use Jonathan as an excuse for not pursuing my wants. Instead, where possible I have to make adjustments to include Jonathan in the picture.

At the ripe age of 60, I have become a YouTubber and have started my own YouTube Channel. In this channel, I make and share motivational videos which I hope will inspire. Being not technically inclined and with no coding experience, it was quite a struggle to make, edit and upload these videos. But I did it.

I currently have less than 200 followers but having a YouTube channel up and running is already a milestone itself. Now I am still trying to find ways to drive traffic to my site. In some of my videos, I share my experiences of being a father to an autistic son and how it has impacted my life. I know that I still have a long way to go and there will be more challenges ahead, but giving up is not an option.

3. I Want To Travel The World

Roselind and I had always loved traveling and we have done our fair share of globe-trotting. One of the greatest adventures we had was the Trans-Mongolian Rail where we travel by train from Beijing to St Petersberg for 25 days. It is great to see exotic and far-flung places; to try new food and experience the local cultures. When I retired in 2021, we had in fact made plans to visit Peru and in particular Machu Picchu. This of course went down the drain due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Malaysia is opening up on 1 April and if conditions permit, we would like to either go to China or Thailand.

I am of Chinese descent, and although I know how to speak local dialects like Hakka and Hokkien, I have a poor grasp of Mandarin. I do not go to a Chinese school and so I have not studied Mandarin formally. The language of instructions has been in English and Malay. I would love to visit China more often to discover my Chinese roots. Hopefully, my Mandarin will also improve as a result.

I have a long list of places to visit on my bucket list. This will include going on a safari in Africa, taking riding a camel around the Pyramids, a road trip to New Zealand, experiencing the Northern Lights, seeing Adele in a concert and so on. I need to take good care of my health so that I can still travel. Hopefully, it will be safe to travel soon.

I am still loving life and with a lot determination and a bit of luck, I hope I can fulfill all the above three wants.

This post is my entry for the Weekend Engagement with the prompt; wants.

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The Weekend Engagement

The weekend engagement is a challenge created by @galenkp. It is a fun contest where you can write about a range of topics with a prompt provided. I like to take part because I get a lot of interactions with other hive members and you don't have to crack your head to think of what to write. @galenkp is also the founder of the Weekend Community.

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