I never realized how much my life was dictated by work. I guess I knew but just didn’t really take the time to think about it – I just kept going the way I had for so many years.
The alarm clock now goes off at 6:30 a.m. instead of 5 o’clock. Why even set an alarm you ask? Well it because Larry has to take his meds at 6:30 and we have already been known to oversleep past 6:30 a.m.. I was shocked the first time it happened!
Then it was a matter of establishing a new routine for the day. When we wake up, do we get right up as in the past or turn the radio on, turn over and listen to “The Wall Street Journal This Morning” radio program or get up? Getting up, showering and getting dressed has remained the same. But, then come the decisions about a new routine. Do I eat breakfast right away? Diet coke first? Check email before breakfast? Eat breakfast at the kitchen table or at my desk like I have done for so many years? Once the kitchen table was decided to be the appropriate place for breakfast we had to then make the decision of which morning news network to watch on TV. We gave them all a one day trial and picked NBC. One network was too “fluffy” on the news’ one was to hard-core; one was bland….. And the morning newspaper – read it with breakfast or later? And email – what if I had an important email and wouldn’t know it for another hour if I didn’t check email as soon as I got up? There must be something I should be doing instead of setting down at 2 p.m. and reading a book. Oh, I forgot, doesn’t the world end if we don’t eat lunch between 12 and 1 p.m.?
Monday, February 16, 2009
Retirement - Life's Chapter 3
Mr. Webster says that retire means to withdraw or retreat. He also defines freedom as independence or liberty.
We were on a hike today out in the Saguaro National Park and it finally dawned on me what retirement is really about. It is about freedom! Freedom from early alarm clocks; rushing through breakfast to get to work; dragging the briefcase back and forth to work and always having work in the back of your mind. It is also about doing things when you feel like it; reading a magazine the day you get it in the mail; forgetting to take a lunch break; being able to go for a hike in the middle of the day in the middle of the week and having a calendar that isn’t booked full. I’m starting my second week of not being employed for the first time in 27 years.
The feeling is new and I’m slowly feeling it out and adjusting to it.
We were on a hike today out in the Saguaro National Park and it finally dawned on me what retirement is really about. It is about freedom! Freedom from early alarm clocks; rushing through breakfast to get to work; dragging the briefcase back and forth to work and always having work in the back of your mind. It is also about doing things when you feel like it; reading a magazine the day you get it in the mail; forgetting to take a lunch break; being able to go for a hike in the middle of the day in the middle of the week and having a calendar that isn’t booked full. I’m starting my second week of not being employed for the first time in 27 years.
The feeling is new and I’m slowly feeling it out and adjusting to it.
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