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No more lace-up shoes since I retired - they're too much trouble, and also confining and uncomfortable. The soles can be slippery. I now wear only loafers with rubber soles. The only exceptions were to my daughter's wedding.... and also very rarely, work boots for carpentry, splitting wood, walking in muddy places, or mountain hiking. I wear neckties only rarely.
I no longer wear watches. My smartphone doubles as a watch.
Gave up our land phone, years ago. The only calls we were getting on it were salesmen, or pollsters.
My cardiologist told me give up bicycling. But I may try it sometime again, short distances of a few miles. Most of the time it's either too hot, too cold, or there is traffic (starting at 2 p.m. with all the school busses). I am much less tolerant of summer heat, the older I get.
Stopped having Nightmares about running for the commuter bus, getting stuck in traffic..... not being able to find my classrooms - or not having a list of them - on the first day of school, and not having studied all semester for an Exam.
I try not to drive at night. I have early cataracts and problems seeing where to turn into dimly marked streets. I am very wary of making left-turns. My last couple of accidents all involved left-turns, so I allow extra time for oncoming traffic to clear, rather than take a chance. I go less and less to the big metropolis nearby, unless I need to take someone to the train or airport. Almost any entertainment I want is on YouTube, cable TV, or at our little theater, or school productions.
As the cost of newspapers went up, I now read them only at our local library, sometimes a whole week's worth of issues at one sitting. Some newspapers' websites have "paywalls" restricting access only to E-subscribers, but I can usually get around that by googling the headline I want, and bringing up the entire article on an alternate site.
I have my own opinions about politics and society, but don't get into arguments about it with my friends and relatives. Some of them continually send me messages of fake news, and when I would research and debunk them, they still insisted I was wrong. I simply don't have time to constantly do this.
Loud Noises really bother me. For example, applause in a crowded theater, loud concerts, crowded restaurants if they have low ceilings, and electric hand-dryers in restrooms.
Last edited by slowlane3; 08-28-2019 at 08:48 PM..
I had stopped night driving but thanks to getting my cataracts done, am happy night driving again.
I had stopped long walks but thanks to my knee injury improving can enjoy this again.
Still cook, swim, snorkel, shop and buy clothes. Use some cash as, for one thing, restaurants here will often not split bills and it is convenient to have cash for my share. Still have a landline as it is free with our internet package.
There are many things every year/decade that I stop doing and many more that I start doing. Life itself seems like a cycle of adaptations to ones circumstances, physical capabilities and an ever- changing world. However, a few important things I've stopped doing in the 10-years since retiring,
I've stopped trying to be what other people think I should be or do (work, home, church, world). I no longer live according to someone else's schedule, agenda or expectations.
I've stopped trying to match my retirement to my pre-retirement picture of constant activity (golf, fishing, preaching/teaching, boating, reading/writing, grandkids, travel, etc.). Instead, I'm more relaxed and satisfied with doing whatever I feel like doing at the time ... without stress or worry.
I've stopped worrying about money or 'having enough.' We no longer write checks/balance the checkbook, spend cash or fret about paying the bills. Everything is either paid for or pretty much on 'autopay,' including the CC bill at the end of the month.
I've stopped worrying about what the politicians and media 'think or say' about what is happening in the world -- or their 'outrage of the hour/day. I keep track of the big picture, but, ignore the stressful haggling and angst of our 'hair-on-fire' world.
I've stopped doing things in excess (eating, drinking, debating, pursuing new things, etc). A slow, measured pace generally gets the job done better.
Fun question OP. Been retired and divorced since 2013... So:
Which Things have you stopped doing?
- Left the TV with Ms. cheater pants, never got another, so it's a TV (indoctrination) free zone.
- Setting an alarm clock
- Shaving every day; either once a week or grow a big ol' bushy beard.
- Giving even less eff's about the opinions of others... I treat all people with respect and kindness, and if they won't/don't reciprocate, not my problem... Some folks are just insufferable A-holes, that thrive on being so.
- Keeping much of a tab on my finances. I've been my own money manager/financial adviser since I was 22, set and kept my plan and never thought lack of $$$ for my modest needs would ever come to fruition. It has.
- Allowing myself to be around anyone with as much as an atoms worth of toxicity. One peep, and it's door-slam time w/o as much as a pang of guilt.
- EVER doubting my gut.
- Believing that the word "NO", is not a complete sentence for those situations where required.
- Putting my needs behind everyone else's.
- Wondering what I'm going to wear 99% of the time... It's amazing how well a well fitted, bright white/colored and clean T-shirt goes with every pair of jeans and shorts I own.
- Shoveling the driveway/cutting grass until I damn well get around to it.
- Raising and lowering the toilet seat a billion times a day... Lowering then raising once a day seems to be the proper interval.
- Wearing out the thermostat since cheater pants is gone... Yep, I like it 58 in the winter, and summer too.
Lastly... Doubting the person I always was, was just fine all the time, despite well aimed slings and arrows fired from a person I thought loved and cared about me... Turns out I was nothing more than a reliable appliance that had a hopeful giving heart and spirit, being played by virtue of those virtues, and taken advantage of by a lizard-eyed monster. I faithfully loved and trusted blindly, and what another might appreciate and cherish, was weaponized where not even scorched earth was enough; the fields were salted too.
No sob story; simply what I learned, what I will no longer accept, and that even when you think you can not take anymore, you are far stronger than you may realize, and the sun does rise another day.
My sincere condolences. We should hook up Ms Cheater Pants with my ex husband. They would be perfect for each other. Serves them right, lol.
No more lace-up shoes since I retired - they're too much trouble, and also confining and uncomfortable. The soles can be slippery.
A tip I learned for slippery shoes from back when i used to wear 5" heels all the time. Carry your shoes out to the street, and rub the bottoms forcefully back, and forth a number of times on the rough asphalt. That really helps to make them much less slippery. I did that for years with every new pair. Now I only wear minimalist running shoes with no heel, no arch support, and little cushioning. I love these, and have been very happy with them. Will buy again.
And screw the cardiologist! If you loved biking, then do it anyway. It will make your heart stronger.
I stopped shaving my legs. The hair that started growing there during adolescence has finally stopped growing. Someday I may be able to stop using deodorant... my mother didn't need it anymore when she got old.
My mother-in-law stopped using deodorant when she got older. WRONG! She smelled like BO. It was bad.
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