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I have NOT set a clock or put on a pair of pantyhose since 1999. Those are two biggies.
I worked 40 yrs and love doing nothing most days. I deal with nasty arthritis and that has been a set back as far as going and doing, and I never was home when working so I enjoy it now.
My plans went totally a wry when a woman ran a red light & crashed my car into a steel barrier.
I'd always been active but now, even after back surgery, it hurts to walk.
My life & plans have changed drastically.
I read a lot but then again, I always have. I'm planning on taking courses at the local college. I have a lot of interests, mainly art, writing but want to learn Spanish because I' m in a Spanish speaking community.
Learning to deal with a disability after being active all my life has been difficult but doable.
This is the tough reality, eh Meo? I'm sorry to see you took such a hit.
We can "plan" all we want, but then "life" gets in the way. I'm not doing what I hoped to do in retirement, same as you. Physical limitations. So, we adapt, if not happily.
Where's my horse, my kayak, and my mountain to climb!!
I guess I better start those research papers, that sculpture, and that novel-writing. Oh yeah, those Spanish lessons too, living here in So. American!
I do not want to sound like I am bragging. In fact my accomplishments in retirement do not put me in the top, what was it, 0.00001%. I have a great many retired friends who are as accomplished and more accomplished than me. My point is very simple and I have tried many times on this forum to communicate it. We all have choices.
We have gotten what you were trying to say every single time you have tried to communicate it. You are the one who has not yet gotten it.
The point is very simple, we understand. We all have choices. Not everyone wishes to make the same choices as yours.
This is the tough reality, eh Meo? I'm sorry to see you took such a hit.
We can "plan" all we want, but then "life" gets in the way. I'm not doing what I hoped to do in retirement, same as you. Physical limitations. So, we adapt, if not happily.
Where's my horse, my kayak, and my mountain to climb!!
I guess I better start those research papers, that sculpture, and that novel-writing. Oh yeah, those Spanish lessons too, living here in So. American!
Unexpected health issues concern me greatly. I'm very fortunate in that I've had a great job that I have enjoyed and gotten a lot of intrinsic satisfaction from. We've tried to live a balanced life and enjoy things prior to retirement, just in case all hell breaks loose.
We have gotten what you were trying to say every single time you have tried to communicate it. You are the one who has not yet gotten it.
The point is very simple, we understand. We all have choices. Not everyone wishes to make the same choices as yours.
Unable to rep you again, so this little note will have to do. Very clear response.
This is a fine and reasonable approach. It nicely encapsulates what so many of us pre-retirees/early-retirees are thinking. The one nuance, is accounting for how we've intellectually and emotionally changed since our childhoods. No, this isn't a silly joke about late-life senility. But the point is, that having gone through decades of shouldering responsibility and so forth, we now entertain the prospect of embracing a care-free, unencumbered life, where our main (only?) responsibility is to decently occupy our own selves. How much of this is liberating, and how much is on the contrary confining?
In working-life, we always have a ready excuse. I'm too busy. I'm too tired. Deadlines, phone calls, forms to be filled out, cantankerous bosses, insufferable coworkers, noises, impediments, fire-drills. Sweep that away, and what's left? In working-life, our excuse is these impediments. The objective is to plead inability to attend to the true fundamentals, because we're mired in distractions.. things of great immediacy, but no lasting importance. Take away those distractions, and what excuse have we, for inadequate or unsatisfying performance at work? Now take away the work itself; what's left?
Hunter-gatherers were busy hunting and gathering. Then came the Neolithic revolution. Farmers got busy farming. Soldiers fought, politicians and priests bloviated. Then came mechanical harvesters, indoor plumbing and smart-phones. Now we're all busy - doing what? If we're sated and secure, what else are we going to do? How many of us are natural poets, learners, contemplatives? How many of us can blissfully prance across a springtime meadow, chasing butterflies? I worry about that. Thus, the inward-turning, to e-mail and the minutiae of tiresome self-justification.
I envision warmer climbs during the winter and am working hard to be able to afford that. What I hope for is liberty. Liberty to follow my own rhythm of life; to pursue interests, to experience different places, to learn new things. The point is, to do what I like to do more so than what I have to do (within reason). I was not fortunate enough to find my “niche” in life. Maybe I’ll find it in retirement.
Retirement is exactly like I envisioned it. Two months, almost three, in.
I >>hate<< cold weather and I swear this is the coldest winter I've seen in Texas, so I like to stay home quite a bit. Once it warms up I will be more active. I like to hike, go for long fast walks and go downtown and hang out - but NOT when it is cold. Has to be at least 60 or so for me to want to get out. HATE cold weather.
We have some trips planned this year, are working to complete our renovation so we are busy. Then when it is gardening and flower season, I stay busy. Stay outside a lot, in the swimming pool, etc.
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