Community Chat

[Shelbelle]

At 72, I still work 3 half days a week, I am not ready to give that up. Most of my friends and coworkers that retired still work at something part time. Hardest part for me is waking up so early on work days

[Sweet Kitties]

I don't know where you live, but if you're in a medium to big city that has good public transportation, there's always things to do. From the plays, music, dance, & museums. There are many opportunities to do volunteer work. There are fitness clubs to get exercise. I personally would never live in a rural area. It would drive me crazy listening to the crickets everyday.

[CrazyTimes]

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@Somertime wrote:

I LOVE the freedom retirement gives me.  I no longer have to have  a rigid schedule in order to get everything done because I work 5 days a week and have limited time.

I can do my laundry whenever I feel like doing it, same with house cleaning....instead of doing it all in one day on a weekend..........I can do a room a day at my leisure.  The same with grocery shopping, no longer need to crowd it into a weekend.  If I feel like having my main meal at 1:00 pm, I can and take my time and enjoy what I am preparing.

The freedom of time as well as the freedom of choice has been a gift I am delighted with!  I realized that "keeping" busy was a fallacy..............I had no choice between cooking, cleaning, laundry, working, etc.  I had to fit all of it i either at night or the two days..Saturday or Sunday, that I had off.

I love my retirement, I have no trouble enjoying my days even if I chose to do absolutely nothing,

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@Somertime 

Well said. I agree with everything you posted. Love the freedom & flexibility of retirement. 

[ThinkingOutLoud]

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I recently listened to a presentation from a neuroscientist that said the way to feel fulfilled in life is to be a contributor and not a consumer. A couple examples that were shared was to do a random act of kindness every day or simply take time to talk to and notice others with the aim to brighten their day. 

[Enufstuff]

@Somertime    "dolce far niente"  The sweetness of doing

                       nothing.

                         Like you, I'm enjoying the freedom of  retirement.

                         After raising five children and working for

                       close to 40 years, now I can relax.

                        I love having no schedule and doing what I need

                       to do, what I want to do or doing nothing,when

                       I choose.

[kaydee50]

DH retired at the age of 53 and had some part time jobs for a few years.  Same with me.  Retirement was NOT a big adjustment for us.  We LOVE it!  No pressure, do what we want, when we want.  Travel, I belong to a couple of knitting groups, read, listen to music.  The time truly flies by.  I guess for some people if their job was their life, retirement may be difficult.  It certainly wasn't for us!!!

[ThinkingOutLoud]

A couple more thoughts:

Some people do better with structure so maybe it would help to have blocks of time for things - enjoyment/leisure, health/wellness, serve/help...?

Reading to learn, genealogy, serving your neighbors/community will have more impact than you might expect.

[cindyNC]

I'll be 71 shortly and retired 7 years ago this month.  My job was very stressful and I found it was taking me longer to do things. I was working from home in Charlotte (office closed) but I reported to the Atlanta office. Any problems with my company supplied equipment involved shipping my laptop back to Atlanta. I missed being in an office. 

I was thrilled to retire and not have my time scheduled by anyone but ME! I spend most of my time puttering around the house (live w/BF), reading, playing computer games. I'm an introvert. 

The most difficult thing for me was the BF retiring this past Sept.  He hates anything to do w/home upkeep.......his job used to be his excuse. Hey, I'm only the renter.........it will go  to sons when he passes. 

[chrystaltree]

It took me over two years to adjust.  

[Trinity11]

My husband was a workaholic his entire career. My working years were more when I was young as my health prevented me from working full time. My main job was raising my children. When they left home, there was an adjustment period as I missed them.

My husband retired seven years ago at age 70. It hit him hard as he has always been very energetic and loved his job. However, he adjusted and we are very blessed to have had this wonderful time together. He is very easy to live with and I really enjoy his company. Maybe because we are both voracious readers, we are happy just being at home.