About four weeks ago, I finally pulled the plug on the workaday life. Oh, I make myself available for the occasional proofreading of a document or work on a small database or two, but my days for heading to the office daily are now officially behind me.
And, know what? It’s not easy!
Oh, I can hear the screams of “yeah, just give me a crack at that life!” or “what, are you nuts?” from all of you still hard at the daily grind, but it’s true. Other than a daily mile or two walk with my dog, Abby, mowing the lawn weekly, and making an entry in my daily journal (via a great app, Day One), each day I find myself wondering, “well, what shall I do today?”
The first few days it was nice to sit in my recliner and catch up on reading a novel, play a game of Scrabble against my iPad, try my luck at FreeCell or attempt to correctly group words in the Red Herring app word game, but folks…that gets old and boring very quickly. Finally, I’m beginning to expand my horizon and look into doing tasks that will have a payback of some sort: what needs cleaning, fixing, or trashing? What can I make for dinner tonight? Is there a long-lost relative or friend that I should contact? When did I last create a blog entry—HA!
Well, it’s only been a month and let’s face it, this is one of life’s major changes, so I need to give it time. I’m sure a routine of sorts will materialize soon enough.
Finally: Let me be clear, I highly recommend retired life to those of you still working in that direction!
Travels with Abby 
Perhaps you should consider running all over tarnation playing “Pokemon Go” with the rest of the world…ha! Enjoy the next chapter!!!
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EXCELLENT IDEA! THANK YOU!!!
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Hey Paul! I’m sure retirement is different for everyone. As I begin (July 1st) for my fourth year of retirement I can highly recommend it IF a person is PREPARED for retirement. Retirement is not a permanent vacation. Retirement is another stage in life. If I didn’t have my interests, hobbies, family, friends, and passions I’d be in real trouble. Everyday I mess with my Apple stuff, play with my dog, read, learn, work on my photography projects, go to my board meetings, write in my journal, consider my next blog article and on and on and on. Prepare for retirement people! Don’t have an interest? Don’t have a hobby? Aren’t passionate about something? You’re looking for trouble if you are not prepared. Just Say’n!
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Excellent points, Tom! I have no doubt that I could have been much better prepared for this major change.
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Paul, the problem (IMHO) is that as industrious people we all get caught up with day to day living before we are retired. Gotta make the car payment, gotta make the house payment, gotta save for the kid(s) college fund, gotta put more money in my 401K… gotta, gotta, gotta… Then one day your retired and perhaps in trouble – what am I going to do for the next 5, 10, 15 or more years. Yikes!
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