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Which brings up the best thing about retirement. If you get tired of doing some project, you can stop doing it. That very minute, if you wish. And then start again whenever you wish.
Example: Playing around on city-data is a lot of fun for retirees. But I got a little carried away with it a few months back. I was on one forum for hours every day, and it got to the point where it wasn't fun anymore. One day I realized it had started feeling like work.
So I stopped. That very minute. Because I don't have to answer to anyone, and I'm not a slave to some work schedule. I get to do what I want, whenever I want, and for as long as I feel like it. I don't have to wait for a vacation, I just stop and go do something else for a few weeks.
Because I'm a cancer patient, there are certain things I have to do every day. But otherwise, I spend all my time doing things that I enjoy. When they get boring, I'm free to move on to something else. That's why retirement is good.
How are you? It is good to see you still active and posting. Had not seen you in the other forum so it is good to know you are still moving on and forward.
How are you? It is good to see you still active and posting. Had not seen you in the other forum so it is good to know you are still moving on and forward.
Hi Tuby! Yup, I'm still active, but not posting much right now. The elections site turned into a bashfest, and bickering isn't my cup of tea, so I've moved on. Travelling and registering voters was last year's adventure--this year my new passion is staying home and gardening!
I gave up the idea of running for some local office. I've gotten too tired to put up with all that nonsense anymore. I'm glad I did all that travelling and election work when I could... but also happy to do something less taxing this year. Plus, I'm in a new town and I think the local offices should be run by people who've lived here for awhile and know how things work.
Now that spring is here I spend most of my time outdoors. I'm doing a lot of gardening, although to be honest at least half that time I'm just sitting back enjoying looking at everything. I never took enough time to watch nature while I was working, it's amazing how much there is to see when you just relax and become part of the world.
I'm also starting to get more involved with local community groups. I must say, the longer I live in this town the more I enjoy it.
BTW, I've met some other retirees who've just moved here and I've started to notice something. I can tell which ones are going to be happy and which ones are going to be miserable. So here's a tip if you're moving to a new town:
If you want to fit in with your new town, resist the temptation to tell people how you did things where you used to live.
Seriously, the joy of retirement is the chance to relax. So mellow out and enjoy learning a few new ways to do things. The happy people are the ones who relax and get to know a place. Share new ideas... but do it gradually. It's great to have different opinions but resist the urge to be "in your face" about it. If you think you're somehow "better" than the people who live in your new town, don't move there. You won't make friends with that attitude and that means you'll just reinforce your self-made misery.
LOL, ok that's enough preaching for today. Time to go out into the garden and enjoy my daffodils.
Hi Tuby! Yup, I'm still active, but not posting much right now. The elections site turned into a bashfest, and bickering isn't my cup of tea, so I've moved on. Travelling and registering voters was last year's adventure--this year my new passion is staying home and gardening!
I gave up the idea of running for some local office. I've gotten too tired to put up with all that nonsense anymore. I'm glad I did all that travelling and election work when I could... but also happy to do something less taxing this year. Plus, I'm in a new town and I think the local offices should be run by people who've lived here for awhile and know how things work.
Now that spring is here I spend most of my time outdoors. I'm doing a lot of gardening, although to be honest at least half that time I'm just sitting back enjoying looking at everything. I never took enough time to watch nature while I was working, it's amazing how much there is to see when you just relax and become part of the world.
I'm also starting to get more involved with local community groups. I must say, the longer I live in this town the more I enjoy it.
BTW, I've met some other retirees who've just moved here and I've started to notice something. I can tell which ones are going to be happy and which ones are going to be miserable. So here's a tip if you're moving to a new town:
If you want to fit in with your new town, resist the temptation to tell people how you did things where you used to live.
Seriously, the joy of retirement is the chance to relax. So mellow out and enjoy learning a few new ways to do things. The happy people are the ones who relax and get to know a place. Share new ideas... but do it gradually. It's great to have different opinions but resist the urge to be "in your face" about it. If you think you're somehow "better" than the people who live in your new town, don't move there. You won't make friends with that attitude and that means you'll just reinforce your self-made misery.
LOL, ok that's enough preaching for today. Time to go out into the garden and enjoy my daffodils.
very well put normie..I also moved to a small town and you are exactly right on with the how things where, and the attitude...I'm loving this retirement..
retired a year already...
Hi Tuby! Yup, I'm still active, but not posting much right now. The elections site turned into a bashfest, and bickering isn't my cup of tea, so I've moved on. Travelling and registering voters was last year's adventure--this year my new passion is staying home and gardening!
I gave up the idea of running for some local office. I've gotten too tired to put up with all that nonsense anymore. I'm glad I did all that travelling and election work when I could... but also happy to do something less taxing this year. Plus, I'm in a new town and I think the local offices should be run by people who've lived here for awhile and know how things work.
Now that spring is here I spend most of my time outdoors. I'm doing a lot of gardening, although to be honest at least half that time I'm just sitting back enjoying looking at everything. I never took enough time to watch nature while I was working, it's amazing how much there is to see when you just relax and become part of the world.
I'm also starting to get more involved with local community groups. I must say, the longer I live in this town the more I enjoy it.
BTW, I've met some other retirees who've just moved here and I've started to notice something. I can tell which ones are going to be happy and which ones are going to be miserable. So here's a tip if you're moving to a new town:
If you want to fit in with your new town, resist the temptation to tell people how you did things where you used to live.
Seriously, the joy of retirement is the chance to relax. So mellow out and enjoy learning a few new ways to do things. The happy people are the ones who relax and get to know a place. Share new ideas... but do it gradually. It's great to have different opinions but resist the urge to be "in your face" about it. If you think you're somehow "better" than the people who live in your new town, don't move there. You won't make friends with that attitude and that means you'll just reinforce your self-made misery.
LOL, ok that's enough preaching for today. Time to go out into the garden and enjoy my daffodils.
The funny thing is I did just that and folks where I use to live feel not respected when I tell them how much better a more rural quiet life is. Having my birds and my Hummingbirds on the deck or yard is something that can't be described to someone who doesn't value it. Having a Hummingbird a few feet from your face is awesome. Especially when they know you and just go on with their business. I was in a bird foods store discussing it and a guy in there said he had a red hat on one day and one of his hummingbirds landed on the brim and his hat and just sit there. We had one fly in our garage and not be able to get out. My wife had the idea to try to direct him out with a push broom. He ended up sitting on the the end of the broom and my wife took him outside. He stayed on the broom for five minutes outside enjoying the sun and looking at my wife. He was comfortable with us and chilling in the sun. Had I been at worked and missed that I would have been ticked. There are people who read this who will understand why I call them my birds others never could.
When I learned that I had spent 2/3 of my life devoted to education and career, I realized that I probably don't have another 2/3 left. So it was time to do for me. I don't regret my choice of careers; however, the best 2/3 is now gone and it's time to do for me. I'm having a ball.
I get the impression from the posts of people who don't work that they are defensive and resentful. They're defensive because they're capable of leading productive lives, but have chosen not to do so. They're resentful because their lives have been marked by a singular lack of success. I originally started this thread thinking that I would hear stories of fascinating projects and experiences. Instead the non-working whined and squealed about how badly they'd been treated by mean and nasty employers, and needed now to sit and do nothing to make themselves feel worthwhile again. Scarcely any of these people aroused any emotion but contempt. The respondents who are worthy of respect are the ones who still earn money, not the ones who squeal that money isn't that important.
If just one had said that he retired to work on a new translation of Livy, or develop an idea for a better chain saw, or work for legislation on some issue, or run for office, or .....but nothing.
Gosh. I guess you are just better than everyone else.
Give me a break and get over yourself.
From what I've noticed in my 56 years, people work because they have to make a living. If they also accomplish something they wish to accomplish, either in employment or not, that's great. But we still have to make a living (call me blue collar!)
How "productive" is most employment? Is not being employed being "unproductive?"
I must have a real working-class attitude towards the whole matter. Sorry I can't report "fascinating projects" or any such. I don't think I'll have any when I'm retired, either, but I do look forward to not being under the employer thumb, yes. For the record, I work as a psychiatric RN, am very good at my job, would easily and happily stop doing it, and don't view doing it or not doing it as a measure of my "being productive."
Not sure if I'm being clear except that the post about "fascinating projects" and "whiners," obviously ticked me off.
The funny thing is I did just that and folks where I use to live feel not respected when I tell them how much better a more rural quiet life is. Having my birds and my Hummingbirds on the deck or yard is something that can't be described to someone who doesn't value it. Having a Hummingbird a few feet from your face is awesome. Especially when they know you and just go on with their business. I was in a bird foods store discussing it and a guy in there said he had a red hat on one day and one of his hummingbirds landed on the brim and his hat and just sit there. We had one fly in our garage and not be able to get out. My wife had the idea to try to direct him out with a push broom. He ended up sitting on the the end of the broom and my wife took him outside. He stayed on the broom for five minutes outside enjoying the sun and looking at my wife. He was comfortable with us and chilling in the sun. Had I been at worked and missed that I would have been ticked. There are people who read this who will understand why I call them my birds others never could.
just got a double hummingbird feeder myself...this is the great part of retirement...enjoying the simple pleasures of life...
If just one had said that he retired to work on a new translation of Livy, or develop an idea for a better chain saw, or work for legislation on some issue, or run for office, or .....but nothing.
LOL, one great thing about "doing nothing" is you finally have the time to ponder the value of "doing nothing." And here's one of the things you eventually realize: if working on a new translation of Livy is something you've always wanted to do, then it would make a fine retirement project. Otherwise, it's really no more useful than anything else you might wish to do. Personally, I'd rather putter around in my garden.
Pardon me for snickering at pomposity, but how does writing yet another translation of Livy add more to the world? Will the world really be a better place?
If you think about it, it's likely I contribute a lot more by "doing nothing" out in my garden. Seriously--think about gardening for a moment. I do it because it's fun and I enjoy being outdoors. But because I'm out puttering around "doing nothing", the following good things happen:
1) I add to the beauty of my neighborhood, which also adds to the value of my neighborhood.
2) The bored young mother who needs to stay home taking care of triplets has an adult to talk to. So does the young man who just lost his job and needs someone to vent with. People come talk to me while I prune my rose bushes--it's cheaper than therapy and I enjoy the company.
3) Neighbors know I can sign for packages, feed pets while they travel, keep an eye out for repairmen. People who are lost stop and get directions from me. And I've very handy in an emergency. When my neighbor fell, she could go to the doctor because I was able to watch her kids. I've driven other neighbors to the hospital. I've corraled countless lost dogs wandering through the neighborhood and gotten them back to their owners. I even found a lost child once and reunited him with his frantic father who was searching two blocks away.
4) Just having someone out and about in a neighborhood keeps crime low. And cuts down on bullying. Last year there was a young boy who was being bullied on the way home from school. So I hired him to help me with weeding (and also to give him a place to hang out for 30 minutes or so).
And, now that I think about it, he was the sort of nerdy kid who grows up to write translations of Livy. That's why he was being picked on. So, who knows, a little old lady hanging out in a garden "doing nothing" actually does contribute to some future intellectual project. I've hired other kids who may grow up to be artists, musicians, engineers, or poets. We talk about all sorts of things. Who knows who I may have influenced while they helped me work in my garden.
5) My veggies put food on my table. In fact, I get such a ridiculous abundance from some of these plants that I end up taking buckets of tomatoes etc. to House of Yahweh. So in my own way I'm helping feed the unemployed. When I drop things off I usually stay for an hour or so, helping out or simply playing cards with someone who's lonely or disabled. That may seem like "doing nothing" too, but it means something to them. Sometimes the greatest help you can give people is just to spend time with them.
6) My garden also benefits the birds and local critters. It helps lower my neighborhood's carbon footprint.
All these good things happen from "doing nothing." But even if nobody else benefitted from my garden, I would still be out there because I benefit from it. Why should I worry about impressing you? Working people have to worry about things like that. Retirees are free to do whatever tickles their fancy, and that's a wonderful freedom. Anyway, thanks for giving me something fun to ponder while I was pruning away today. Thinking about it gave me some interesting things to say when I go over to the senior center.
And, BTW, hanging out at a senior center may seem like "doing nothing", but is it? Sometimes I get involved in things like registering voters, but even on those days when I just hang out I'm contributing to the world. My little thoughts I cooked up today will make some other people laugh and feel good about life. I'll influence more people this way than I would if I stayed home writing an interpretation of Livy. And I'll have more fun, too.
Deciding when to retire once financially able is best solved by the following equations.
The enjoyment from work is > than the enjoyment of leisure/free time= Don't Retire.
The enjoyment from work is < than the enjoyment of leisure/free time= File the paperwork.
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Time to go out into the garden and enjoy my daffodils.
