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Enjoying life and taking it easy should not be considered as synonymous.
Why not, exactly???....are you suggesting one must have a constant itinerary or lists of things to do? Different strokes for different folks......I see no reason to question how or why someone spends their time in retirement.....if one wants to run marathons, actively travel, etc. and another wants to live in peaceful solitude staring at a lake or reading on a beach who cares??? To each his own.....there are no set rules for everyone.
I retired from a dream position at a time when many in my profession were seeking work.
Also I was never good at juggling work/family responsibilities and I'm a better wife, sister, mother, daughter-in-law, aunt, and neighbor since retiring.
Well put. This is part of what should make retirement great. Just the time to be a better everything.
I understand your feelings. My wife and I both plan to retire in 2019, I will be 63 and she will be 60. We have saved for decades and are in position to retire at this age without financial worries. My biggest source of guilt (and fear!) is siblings who never planned for their own retirement; who will never be able to afford retirement, even at FRA; and who may be looking to us to fund them (or move in with us!).
We are tired of saving their butts from our savings for decades. Mortgage payments to stop foreclosures, utility payments to stop Shut-Off Notices, medical payments to stop court actions, etc. I have come to understand people who have told their families "Don't contact us, we will contact you."
Maybe our full retirement will be the perfect opportunity to say "No!"
As I near retirement, I am very excited about it, but also fearful that I am going to feel guilty not working. I plan to retire next year at age 61 1/2. I have been careful, financially, which will enable me to live a modest, but comfortable life....which is what I have always done. But my parents always drilled a work ethic into me....work and save, work and save. How do others deal with the guilt of waking up on a Monday and not going to work along with everyone else? Does it dissipate over time? Did you not feel as guilty as you thought you might? I don't plan to sit in front of the TV eating bonbons. My plans are to exercise and be active in my new community.....but not pursuing a paycheck.....I am worried about how that will make me feel.
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If you feel too guilty, you can always come and work my job
My job was intellectually challenging and kept me on my toes. It was stressful but I seemed to thrive on stress. Nothing in retirement replaces that. I am glad I retired, but it is definitely different. You will adjust.
I can't imagine experiencing guilt in retirement. If anything. I might have pangs of regret for not being able to do it sooner!
Concentrate on making yourself happy. You deserve it. You've earned it.
Exactly!!
After working for nearly 50 years, the last thing I would do is waste my well-deserved retirement years wringing my hands and feeling guilty.
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I retired from a dream position at a time when many in my profession were seeking work. 
