I remember the year I decided to retire. I had been working for seven years so we would have insurance. Good enough reason, eh? But age 65 was approaching and I thought, “Hey, I don’t need to work for insurance anymore. I think I’ll retire!” And I did. Sort of.
I didn’t go in to work any longer. I had every day, all day to do as I wanted…and I got a pay check anyway. What a hoot!
I was all set to enjoy the retired life. And then I found out that it isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. First off I found that instead of my husband and I doing things separately, we began to do them together. Have an appointment to see a doctor in Peoria? We go together. Need to go to Barnes and Noble? We go together. Volunteering to help some group out? We do it together. So instead of two people doing two different things, there were two people doing one thing.
Next eye opener was that I was available for babysitting. Now, don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my grandchildren! And I’m willing to babysit* anytime I’m asked. If it weren’t for babysitting, I would hardly know those wonderful little people. We’ve become friends, and that’s downright precious. But it did cut into my “free” time.
Then there was a personality problem. I am absolutely incapable of belonging to a group and not DOING something! I can’t keep my mouth shut. I can’t keep my hand down. I can’t say “no.” So pretty soon I was up to my neck in volunteerism.** I’ve had to make some hard choices, and one of them is to simply not go to any new meetings. I know that if I do, I’ll be right in the midst of running them, and life’s too short for that. I’ve had to choose a couple that I really like, and say no to all the rest. It sounds like I have that all under control, but not so. I’m still in too many organizations and over-volunteered.
I’ve made a big decision. I’m going to retire! I’m going to do what I want to do when I want to do it! Yeah, right.
* In yesterday’s blog I talked about spell-check. My mighty computer doesn’t like my spelling of “babysit.” It wants to put in a hyphen. It doesn’t even know that “blog” exists! I guess it’s not so smart after all.
** My mighty computer DID know “volunteerism”, however. You gotta be impressed!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
so! When is this new retirement going to take place and is there going to be a party.
And retirement is where we start to just groove into the other good things that life offers. You've been working hard for years, and now's the time to enjoy everything that you deserve - volunteering for a cause, getting close-knit with the family, doing crafts, and all other actitivites. Travelling? Now's the time to do so!
Post a Comment