Tales of Retirement
By Christine Warltier
Mostly a renovator – always fixing something
Retired three’ish years ago
I feel like I am a cheerleader for retirement. I feel like those who can swing it financially should be the first ones to take off early and run for the hills, laughing. Those who can almost swing it should just follow suit.
My only concern would be regarding having a do-able flow of income. I have never been attached to ‘working for the man’ from any sense of worthiness, belonging, or security. But then I have not had a typical work life. I raised four children and had many interesting jobs interspersed: tax clerk, Greyhound ticket salesperson, Sears cashier, this, that, the other, skate patrol, prison guard, secretary, newspaper circulation manager, but mainly a renovator – I was always fixing something.
Finding my fit
I was not happy to find out the hard way that, for me, anxiety made work distasteful, stressful, and dreaded. When our children were small and I tried returning to work, I often felt like a gerbil in a cage, on an ever-turning wheel. I did not hold down jobs for more than one to three years. Fortunately, my husband was able to maintain steady work relatively unscathed.
A few years ago, when he retired early, we had a period of revelation. We realized that we enjoyed purchasing and renovating down-at-the-heel properties and selling them for profit. It was a great fit for my creative energy and it was a real joy to work for ourselves. Even now, after the economic downturn, when we are unable to continue doing this, it taught me not to fret about the future so much. You can’t enjoy your days if you are uptight about your position in life.
You are going to be okay
My message is that you are going to be okay.
You will figure it out.
Fearlessness is the way to go.
Don’t be so serious about life.
There is no perfect solution, but also no wrong path to try.
Just take a swing at it.
When you walk away from 9 to 5, you can re-invent yourself. You can pour your delightful morning coffee in slow motion and breathe deeply, knowing that the Hounds of the Baskervilles are not baying at your heels. You can enjoy rain on the windows and listen to the birds. Connect again. You can notice your world more because you have the Luxury of Time… time to spend, not time to waste. And appreciating a slower pace is not a waste.
Contemplate the possibilities. Get a new dog friend, walk long and briskly, paint, renovate, travel. Chill with friends and family.
Time and spaceships
Spaceships for grandsons
Recently, I constructed two “spaceships” for our grandsons, made from cast-off school desks, gauges and gadgets and a whole tube of PL Premium adhesive. My son remarked that I had too much time on my hands and I said, you know, you are right. I do have the luxury of time.
And believe me, your days will be filled. My mother once said that she and Dad were so busy when they retired, just with the business of running the household. It is surprising how much time shopping, laundry, cleaning, cooking, eating, and drinking can take. You will simply become productive in different ways, which will give purpose and fulfillment to your days. I don’t have it all figured out. But that is okay. I may not be rolling in moulah, but I have a very rich life.
It’s your life after all
You may want to try changing the way you work, going part-time or consulting or changing career paths to something you have always had a yen for. You even have permission to work your ass off until your dying days… because it is your life after all.
But don’t forget how you felt when you were young, facing a long road of work ahead. How the promised land of retirement as your reward beckoned in the distance. Yes, you deserve it. It is Play Time folks. Be kind to that little boy or girl inside you.
Do the right thing – give yourself a break
Now if you have always done the right thing in life and the right thing career-wise, you are likely able to pull off the R word in decent shape. Hopefully. Always have hope. So why not do another ‘right thing’ and give yourself a break? Like a drunken matador, facing the bull with staggering bravery – or like me, with my rum and coke, facing the first art canvas, brush in my hand – take a stab at it.
You can always downsize, get a house with a rental suite, live on a line of credit, or die broke; you choose your poison. You can carry on in style for many years to come – until you are ancient and sipping porridge out of a straw.
No more navel-gazing!
You only get one life. You never know when your number is up or when a health roadblock will be thrown in front of you or your spouse.
So no more navel-gazing… what are you saving yourself for?
And start using the good dishes for gawd’s sake!