I believe I’ve finally got my groove back. Like Stella. I no longer wake up in the morning and wonder what I’m going to do today. Or this week. I have a plan. Not a dream. That was Martin Luther King Jr.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but I have a schedule of sorts. I go to my personal trainer for rehab exercises for my banged-up knee on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Thursday nights, I go to a class on religion. Most afternoons at 4:30 p.m. I feed my 92-year-old mother dinner in her nursing home. On Tuesday nights and Thursday mornings I go to a meditation sit (or sometimes I just contemplate going to a meditation sit). On Saturday mornings I go to my place of worship and feed my soul. In between I go to myriad doctors’ appointments, read, blog, go for walks with friends, and I admit it….watch my favourite TV shows. Is this a frivolous life? Some might think so. Others might not.
A lot of my friends ask me how I’m adjusting to retired life, as though retirement is like a new set of orthotics or false teeth that take getting used to. I’m totally entrenched in retired life now that I have given myself permission to do what I like, when I like. Within reason. As a 60-year-old woman, I no longer say stupid things like this: “If I can’t sleep at night, I have the freedom to stay up and write or read until the sun comes up.” Hey, let’s get real. If I did that it would take me at least a week to recover from lack of sleep. And I’d probably get sick.
I’m not exactly frail and elderly, but let’s face it, most 60-year-olds don’t have the stamina of 20-somethings. We might talk a good game, but when push comes to shove, we need our sleep. We’re no longer spring chickens who stay up all night talking about the meaning of life over a few too many beers.
Retirement has definitely given me a palpable sense of freedom — the unbearable lightness of retirement. Actually, it’s pretty bearable. There are way fewer “must-do” items on my list, and way more “this-would-be-fun-to-try” items. I finally have the freedom to expand my mind, heart and soul in ways I could only dream of before. And I have all the time in the world to do it. You know that saying: “You should live every day as if it’s your last”? Well, in retirement you can.
I’ve learned that retirement is not a destination but a journey. I’m learning to pack lighter and boy does that feel good!
