Thursday, April 2, 2015

Six Month Anniversary


It’s April 1st but this is one person who is not a fool today as she celebrates her 6 month anniversary as a retiree.  As my “retirement coach” suggested, a person should look back on their time and say “wow, what a great ride” rather than “how time flies”.  I am happy to report that the first is what I am thinking about the first 6 months and I am looking forward to more of the same over the spring and summer months.
Looking at the 6 sections of the Retirement Pie (Physical, Mental, Social, Financial, Spiritual & Activity) I would say that I have concentrated on 4 pieces to date.  I have stayed steady on a one hour exercise program, I have practiced frugality (after a well-planned financial program that I have been working with my adviser on) and I have nailed down my social life almost by accident.  Delivering my eggs to my former colleagues once a week has also served as lunch and coffee dates that keep me well connected.  As well, it is fortunate that in this age of electronics we have the use of Facebook and email to stay in touch with so many people who lead busy lives.  As for activity, it seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything that I want to do but there’s always tomorrow.  And I haven’t even got to the “leisure” part of retirement yet!  And Mom thought I would be bored.
As for the Spiritual and Mental pieces, I seem to be lagging a little in these departments but hey, it’s only the first 6 months!  To some extent I have been learning since I have been reading a lot on sustainable farming, beekeeping and gardening in general.  My book club is back to reading some good books and of course my usual reading never falters.  But as for my Spanish lessons, no comprendre.  The books are on hand for easy access but “I have not time” keeps cropping up.
So what can I say about retirement besides “it is highly recommended”?  Succinctly, get yourself together.  At the top of the list be sure you are financially ready for the jump because if you don’t know how to rein in your spending habits you will quickly get yourself into trouble.  Second, it is vital that you have yourself psychologically ready to take the jump.  Third, you need to be sure that you have enough things in your life to keep you busy and these should be things that you truly enjoy.  Not the honey do jar type of things but things you just love to do.  If you have always planned on making a shop in your garage because you want to do more carpentering, then great.  If you want to clean out the garage, to clean out the garage, well, not so great because that is a very limited task.  What I have found is that one project has led to others along the same line which is to get my hobbies running efficiently for me, those hobbies being arts & craft and gardening / farming.
The more a read up on retirement the more I realize that there are a whole lot of things that a person can interest themselves in.  One can take a scholarly route into studying up on a subject and even become an expert on it, perhaps writing a thesis or book.  One can find all kinds of sports to partake in and some or very inexpensive.  For example hiking and cross country skiing are pretty cheap activities.  While doing those activities one could also enjoy photography (which can be a bit more expensive if you really get into fancy cameras) or socializing. 
Meditating is something that costs nothing but your own concentration but this is an area that I must confess to being slow to get deeply in to though it is a definite goal for me.  Most people today are not church goers but attending church is inexpensive and you have opportunities to get involved both socially and charitably with these organizations.  If you are not faith oriented then meditation is a great alternative to getting in touch with the spiritual side of your being.  Now that may seem very hokey but the facts show that all 6 pieces of the Retirement Pie are essential for a well-rounded, fulfilling life.
One last word, the greatest compliment I have received is the comment that I am the poster child for what retirement should look like. 
(please don’t hate me).

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