Friday, April 1, 2011

What Retirement is Teaching Me

If you are not retired, read this at your own risk. It may be like saying to a small child, “there is no Santa Claus.”  If you are retired, don’t bother to read any further.  You already know all of the lessons I am learning.
·         I am learning to procrastinate.  Already know how to do that?  Just wait, retirement makes it worse.  You think you can always cut the grass tomorrow.
·         It may not be smart to retire before your spouse does (Honey, please don’t read this). Sometimes she might leave a little note about something that could be done just in case you get bored.
·         I am learning that I have more time than money. 
·         I am also learning I don’t have as much time as I thought I had.  When you get older it takes longer to get up, get dressed, and remember where you were headed when you walked out of the kitchen.
·         I am learning that I miss my work associates. Where are the secretary and custodian when I need them now?
·         I am learning that the sound of the phone ringing now makes my heart jump with anticipation rather than run with fear!
·         I am learning that my yard keeps getting bigger, the shrubs larger, and the lawn mower less efficient.
·         I am learning that everyone else seems to have many ideas about what I can do with my time.
·         I am finding that when I get into a conversation with a pretty lady at the supermarket, she starts talking about her grandfather who is also retired or recently deceased.
·         I am finding that I get resentful when the clerk at the store sarcastically calls me “young man.”
·         I am finding that I have forgotten the frustrations, long hours, bone aching fatigue, and all the other things which caused me to say, “when I retire…”

No comments:

Post a Comment