Retired!

Life has transitioned for the better for me. I am now a retired person!

I always assumed that retirement (wish there was a more appealing word) would be the ultimate vacation. And it is true that I have more time. But shifting from being on the treadmill of employment and being productive is TOUGH! To be honest I struggle still. 

Henri Nouwen put it well, “When we retire we make a passage from a life of clearly defined work to a life asking for new creativity and wisdom.” Some passages take longer than one would expect.

I had to take myself to task. First I learned that I need to be kind to myself. I expected to tackle all of those projects I had been unable to do while I “worked”. But daily life gets in the way of the best laid plans. Books are waiting to be read!

As part of my process, I decided to list the values that are important for me. Health, Family, Finances, Decluttering, Deep cleaning, Gardening…

Then I picked one value to focus on for the year… I chose my Health.

Watching other retired persons, I recognized that the ability to move free of pain; to think and function easily was of uppermost importance. One term, “to live in place” honed it even more. I want to be in control of the quality of living.

My daily routine has morphed into a rather cliché round of regular exercise, healthy food, learning, being with people I love, drinking 8 glasses of water, getting 8 hours of sleep.

Note that my retirement date of January 17, 2017 was sadly three days before the inauguration of our 45^th president. My hoped for days of being creative and imparting wisdom was high-jacked. I admit to becoming obsessed with news cycles, being exasperated, and muttering words I will not repeat here.

Future posts will reflect what I learn as I go.

                Quote from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997