Jump to the Here and Now – What I Love about Retirement

Well, I’ve just re-read my first four posts, and I must admit that I sound pretty pathetic! It seems like I was always crying about something, or perhaps crying about nothing is more like it. I don’t know if anyone is following this sad tale, but just let me say, it does get happier!

So right now I’d like to take this little detour to share some more uplifting thoughts. In my next blog I’ll travel back to February 2008 and describe my first mission from God (and how I almost missed it!).

What I love about being retired

1) I actually look forward to Mondays! Not that I have crummy weekends (see #3 below), but Monday is my day to start a new To Do List, with all of the things I WANT to do, not the things I HAVE to do. It’s also the start of a new week of scriptural readings; since each week has a different theme, I can read and meditate on the theme as well as the daily scripture passage.

2) I’m finally getting fit at age 56! Instead of sitting at a computer terminal or television for 12 hours a day, now I MOVE: cleaning, shopping, dancing, walking, biking, weight training, and just running up and down the stairs of my two-story house. I’m still losing weight, now by design rather than from being too anxious to eat. And I’m only 5 pounds away from being in the normal weight range, for the first time in 40 years!

3) Since I’m able to do housework and run errands on weekdays, my evenings and weekends are free from more fun activities, like hanging out with friends, going to movies, and dancing (especially dancing!). We’ve been dabbling with ballroom dancing for the last few years, but now we’re getting serious!

4) I’m closer than ever to my husband. Maybe because I’m not caught up in all the stress of my job, I’m much more relaxed and interested in fun. I have more time for conversation, recreation and romance. And I think that my example (along with the extra dancing) has inspired my husband to lose weight too; he’s dropped about 15 pounds since spring!

5) I have time to follow current events more closely, especially the national election. In the past I’ve been woefully uninformed. Sad to say, this is the first election I’ve followed closely since Nixon versus McGovern in 1972.

6) I’ve rediscovered the joys of soups and stews, which are healthful, economical, and even creative. I now have more time to cook from scratch, and I especially enjoy using fresh vegetables and garlic in my recipes. I’ve learned that eggplant and spinach can be thrown into more dishes than I ever imagined, and that turnips (a vegetable my Italian mother never used) add a really nice flavor to chicken, beef or fish soup.

7) My house is actually clean most of the time now, and it is slowly getting de-junked. Not that I think having an immaculate house is the most important thing in the world, (good thing, because mine is far from spotless), but it is rather satisfying to wake up to a tidy living area. And now I can keep on with mail and clutter on a daily basis, so I’m not scrambling madly when I learn company is coming.

8) I am more aware of the beauty in our world, from an ordinary sparrow feeding in the yard to a glorious sunrise over Lake Erie. Walking to church one morning last winter, I was awed by the quiet splendor of the falling snow clinging to streets of our subdivision, yet unmarred by tire tracks.

9) I’ve gotten to know some really neat people by going to morning Mass and volunteering at various non-profits organizations. I never thought I’d be having a coffee klatch with a Dominican nun, but Sister Ellen is pretty cool!

10) I have time to really get to know my neighbors. In the past I always too busy to stop and chat, and I used to get irritated when the older retiree next door started to ramble. Now I have time to really listen, and sometimes learn a thing or two! The same is true for spending time with long-neglected relatives; for the first time in years I’m calling just to chat, or spending a quiet afternoon over a cup of tea.

11) I am closer than ever to God. It seems like I pray constantly, not for deliverance from my woes, but out of adoration, praise and gratitude. I have learned about the power of intercessory prayer and the peace of turning over all one’s worries to the Lord.

12) I’ve learned that having something to look forward to is a crucial part of life. For years I had dreamed of an early retirement, and I think that’s one reason I felt so empty at first: I could no longer look forward to something that had already arrived! At the beginning of my retirement journey I had to work hard to find things to look forward to, but now my eyes are beginning to open up to all of the marvelous prospects that await. Perhaps my list of ‘Things to Look Forward To’ will be the topic of some future blog.