I’m
having mixed feelings about this ‘being retired’ part of life.
After
more than 40 years of working with other people, for other people, having them
determine when I need to arrive at work, when I can leave, and what I have to
be doing while I’m at work, I really love the freedom of determining my own
schedule and working out my own time table. I no longer have to be at 5 to be
at work by 7; now I get up between 7 and 8, and usually don’t have any place I
need to be. I have some control over who I see, when I see them and what I do
with them.
On
the other hand, now that I have no one else to decide what I will do each day,
I have to do that myself. After all, I’m retired, not dead. But I won’t last
long if I don’t stay active and engaged, both physically and mentally.
So
I decided to start my own business. I really didn’t have any money to spare to
set it up, just a few dollars here and there, so it was going to involve a lot
of hard work. And it does. Every morning when I get up, I have to decide what
parts of my never-ending list of things to do I will tackle that day. And there
are times when I wish I had somebody who would tell me which items have a
higher priority, which items are worth my time and which are not.
So
I plug along, learning new skills, and trying to make the best use of my time.
Still,
when the mood hits me, I take the afternoon off and go see a movie. I think
that might be the best part about being retired.
