A Newbie’s Retirement Reflection
Rules still rule, but I’m good with it
I’ve just passed the seven-month mark of my early retirement. What are you doing in retirement, Julie?
I reflected on this topic at the two-month mark, but I’ve found new things to love about retirement (and not working):
- Writing! I love writing. I took a creative writing course a year ago and found a rhythm that suited me. And ideas! Oh, the ideas my brain conjured. I became anxious to retire because I feared the words were going to leak out before they got on the page. I was terribly afraid of what word-ooze would look like on our floor. But like many writers, I procrastinate. I also skip days when I don’t have the “writing feels.” You know what I mean, right? This leads us to #2.
- Personal discipline is still important and as I’ve written before, I still fear my quitting habit will sabotage my dreams. But, then there’s this:
- Freedom. Just the general sort so I can do these things at my own leisure and kick items 1 & 2 above to the curb now and then. Things like this: — Reading whenever the heck I want. I used to say I’d have a three-foot stack of books and do nothing but read in the early days of retirement. Then, the writing thing happened. I still read daily, juggling two books sometimes. — Binge-watching streaming shows I missed when I too busy answering work email at 8 p.m. (Shame on me.) — Wandering outside whenever I want. I pull weeds, move yard stuff around, watch birds build a nest. — Being spontaneous. I need to work on this one and give myself permission to ignore my lists or shove aside my planner.
- No high-pressure performance requirements. The overarching joy I feel is not having to engage in the rigors of a high-pressure job. — No meetings. In a leadership position, I attended a lot of meetings including some, I must admit, that were scheduled by me. My boss held a weekly staff meeting and it became affectionately known as the LAM (Long-A** Meeting). Sometimes, he held SLAMs, the “S” stood for Super. Sigh. My last six months involved teleworking during the pandemic. Imagine a SLAM via Zoom. — No pantyhose, heels, dresses, skirts. I love fashion, but my last six months were literally spent in split physicality. Makeup, jewelry, pretty top for the camera, and sweats down-under. The commercials on TV don’t lie. — No evaluations for me or my staff. Yippee! If you’ve ever managed people, you understand this. — No boss. Though I am a pretty stern taskmaster. Some days, I don’t like my retirement boss. She’s kinda mean…and, well, bossy. But I’ve always known that about her.
- Time with my husband. I shouldn’t have saved this for last, but I did it for a reason. He’s battling cancer which makes me very sad. But I’m delighted in the way a loving wife should be that I can be here for him. Daily, he must decide if he feels up to driving himself to treatment. He’s managed it most of the time because that man is a super-trooper!
I second-guessed my decision to retire early. My husband even asked last year why I was in such a rush. Now, even he agrees I made the right move.
Needless to say, I am loving this new life. One day, I expect my desires will change and there’ll be a course correction. I think I’ll be a more flexible person then because I’m exercising more. Haha!
How about you? Are you retired? How’s it going for you? If you’re not retired yet, what do you look forward to the most? I’d love to hear your story.