Walk-in tubs for seniors, plastic surgery, urinal mats and Silver Singles for Sexy Seniors ads keep showing up in my AOL account - the word is out - I am officially retired!
How did they all know? Did they see the bright glow lighting up my home, my well-tended vegetable and flower gardens, my uptick in Kindle orders? And how has it been? Here are my highs and lows.
Clearly, being in the moment rather than gliding through time like a water spider barely getting my feet wet has been the biggest change. Reducing the windows open in my head has allowed me to dive much deeper into everything I care about - my relationships, my hobbies, traveling and so forth. I am most definitely ‘smelling the roses.’
I feel much healthier. Down five pounds (with a few more to go), eating fresh foods, exercising far more and sleeping fully have made me feel younger and more positive in my outlook. For three months, I have been on a new cancer treatment regiment that seems to be working and if I get my afternoon siesta, a byproduct of the meds and perhaps age, I can hang in all day.
I am very surprised at how much I enjoy my own company. I am exploring my interests with less distraction from work, children and other life responsibilities that have always been in the forefront. I had worried personal time would make me restless, but instead, it has de-stressed me. The last time I had time alone, I was a single woman and felt I needed to have social plans on my calendar all the time - now, I don’t. I set things up when I choose and put my full self into that time. I am selecting my commitments carefully so that I am happy and fully engaged. I am immersed in my favorite season, summer, spending so much of it outdoors - walking, gardening, reading and hosting friends at our lake home. Cell phone? 'Barely remembering I have it with me and not checking it constantly. Mostly, I am happy to have the camera feature close by. That says a lot.
What are the downfalls - not too many. I had a crazy episode for a month where I lost part of my health insurance - a warning blog discussing this slip is forthcoming. The business of retirement, insurance, money, health etc is full of potholes that we all need to fully understand.
But, when the retirement scale weighs in, the positive side clearly wins. As a matter of fact, my eldest granddaughter should be waking up any minute and we are taking a tennis lesson together in an hour, so I best wind this up. Life is good!
How has retirement been going for you?
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