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Two posters gave me the idea for starting this thread, Stevek64 and Luzianne. In TuborgP's thread "Is there life after retirement?", Luzianne posted the following:
"My question is: Is there life BEFORE retirement? Real life? I don't think so, at least not for everyone. We slave away 40+ hours a week and after that we are too tired to do anything that we would LIKE to do - or at least I am. I'm 57 and I WISH I could retire now. I am trying to find something part time or prn so I can still work, but not full time."
I am so sorry that Luzianne is "too tired to do anything" after her working hours. However, I didn't usually feel that way. I pursued several hobbies, and pursued them intensely, while still working. In addition, I read, travelled a bit, saw interesting films, etc. Of course I wasn't raising children, so both my energy and my free time outside of the workplace were greater.
So as the OP, I will answer YES, I definitely had a "real" life before retirement, which included my work. Work is part of life, not separate from it. I always find it very sad when people post that they only started to live after retiring. Now that doesn't mean I wasn't glad to retire. One can be happy working and ALSO be happy retired.
If I only had to work 40 a week it would feel like a permanent vacation to me.
The first thing I will do when I retire (if I ever get there) is sleep in every day for at least a few years.
Interesting post. I often think that I am not LIVING enough. I travel and enjoy leisure activities, but resent the 40 hours I work. I have an excellent paying job, but HATE what I do. I went back to school in the hopes to changing careers,but that is impossible without a drastic pay cut. Its a catch 22.
It was interesting seeing some of the notions about telling the boss "F.U." if requested to work past 40. Wow! Different world I suppose. These days, jobs are hard to come by and harder to keep. Not too many people are in a position to tell the boss "F.U." these days. So, we toil quietly, biding our time, waiting, waiting ... maybe ... some day. We are throw backs to an earlier time ... like some folks from past generations (like the parents and grandparents of some of the folks who post here).
I've been able to build an integrated life, in which I can be the same person on the job and off. It's my business, so it reflects my values and principles. And I hired to fill my weaknesses and to have people do the things I do not like or care to do. So yeah, it is a life that I love.
So much so, that I may never fully retire until I can't do anything in the business. But then again, I might.
That is a HORRIBLE work schedule. How long have you been married?
Not to steal the thread but that is why I like to watch Christmas story at Christmas. It reminds me and I can relate to just now I thought as a kid. He nailed.
I, too, once had a job in which I was literally called on the carpet for attending my own father's funeral (I took one extra day beyond the three allowed me in order to drive the family back to the airport). In response, I quit that job, but not before I had secured ANOTHER job. Too many young people today seem to think work is optional; a combination of easy welfare and parental trust funds is creating a generation of "all play/no pay."
Could have serious economic impacts, but I'll be retired and won't care by then...
I worked part time from 1978 until 2001 when my 1st husband passed away and I was age 44. Transitioning to full time work was a little difficult at first, but it actually in the long haul gave me more time and energy to pursue outside interests because I went from working part time in the ER rotating shifts and working every other weekend and holiday, to a case management position working M-F, 8-4:30 working no weekends and no holidays. My new position also came with 5 weeks of annual vacation which really helps when I want to take a day off here and there for whatever reason. Had I stayed working in the ER I would probably be physically disabled, insane, or both by now!!
A "real life" before retirement? No, I worked. My life wasn't my own, it belonged to supervisors and idiots. Now that I'm retired I have a "real life". I do what I want when I want.
I enjoyed the years when I was raising my daughter, and there were many times when I really enjoyed my job.
Now the job isn't as enjoyable anymore, and my daughter is grown and gone to the other side of the planet. It's just long days, one after the other, of getting up at 5 a.m. and getting home at 7 p.m., eating, doing whatever, then getting ready to start all over again the next day. I need a change.
Not that I don't do other things, I do, sometimes too much. But too much of my life and time is taken up by the job.
Yep. That about sums it up for me except my days aren't quite as long, and I'm 10 years younger.
But it gets to be an absolute drag after a while!
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