retirement
It’s a good example of “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” Following are five lessons I am learning from this un-retirement experience.
The alarm has been used very infrequently for the last four and a half years. I forgot how annoying that sound can be early in the morning. I have grown to appreciate waking when my body tells me it is time to get up.
We can’t go to a mountain lake to get out of the heat for a week. We have taken on an obligation to be here to keep the finances at the church running smoothly.
Don’t make a move into retirement until you find something to create purpose in your life.
We can’t just hop on our tandem bike and go for a ride. She must go to work and by the time she gets home, it is too hot to go for a ride. We now plan our days around her work schedule.
We have lost the ability to tackle a project and work on it until it is completed. We must pause while she goes to work. Yes, I can keep painting when she is gone, but it is a lot more fun doing it together.
I like my retired life better. The freedom it gives is hard to express. It’s something one needs to experience first-hand to gain the full appreciation of the benefits.