I’ve only been officially retired
for about a month, although I’ve been heading in that direction since July.
That was when my job position was filled by someone else, and I focused on a
special project. Although I didn’t go to the office every day, I still felt a
sense of having a day job.
Now, I’m cut off from the payroll
that has sustained my standard of living for more than three decades. That is
something that warrants serious thought and well-thought out strategy.
Retirement is not good without financial security, and now I’m glad that a
large part of the equation was figuring out how I could afford to retire.
For thirty-three years, my life
revolved around another day at the office. An office with a lot of
responsibility and a darn good paycheck. I thrive on responsibility and
appreciate a steady income, so why on earth did I retire?
Part of the reason is that I wanted
to enjoy the things I’ve put on hold for the greater part of my life.
Retirement is my reward to myself. I want to spend more time with family and
have time for activities that bring me enjoyment. I’ve spent years running on
adrenaline and stress. I want to stress less and relax more.
First, part of stress reduction is
to not worry so much about the weather. We’ve had snow on the ground heading
toward the second week. I did not have the anxious feeling that has been the
norm during wintertime since December 1980.
Now, I can sit around drinking
coffee or hot chocolate and enjoy the beauty of the snow. If I don’t want to go
out, I just cancel everything and stay snug and warm. No scraping ice or slip
sliding on the road.
Today, I trampled through the snow
in exhilarating freezing weather to get my newspaper and mail at one o’clock in the afternoon. I
couldn’t help but think about how different this is from past winters when I
had to be out and about by 6:30 a.m.
So, for me, the first retirement
advantage is not having to get up before daylight and making a death-defying
drive into work. No more looking out the window at work wondering if I’ll be
able to make it home before the roads drift.
Yes, grasshopper, age has its
privileges.
Copyright © February 2014 by L. S.
Fisher
http://boomerobics.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment