The thing I’ve noticed in retirement is that everyone wants
a piece of you. The general assumption
is that you have lots of time on your hands and those still working or in
school or needing extra assistance or volunteers ask you to do stuff
for them.
It’s almost like folks think I’m just sitting here looking out my window ALL DAY waiting for marching orders.
This is good and bad. Since my husband is still working at a
very stressful job, I am happy that I can take care of some of the chores that
were his domain – like taking out the garbage and recycle and making sure we
have something to eat for dinner.
It’s also good that I have time to help my elderly mother do
her shopping and that we can spend time together.
Doing more volunteer work for my church gives me a feeling of
accomplishment, which I have missed since no longer at work completing big
product launches (for instance) on deadline.
Being able to jump online and find a hostel in Hong Kong on
a moments notice for my traveling adult son makes me feel needed. Looking up my
Netflix password for my daughter in college doesn’t take long.
But when you add all these small things together, suddenly I
find myself doing what I did when I worked; Running around at the beck and call
of others and not having time to pursue things that are meaningful to me.
It wasn’t like this from day 1 of retirement. In fact, right
after I retired, I discovered the Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path to HigherCreativity and made my way through the 12-week program. As I explored my
creative side, I was reminded that I DID HAVE HOBBIES and interests outside of
family, work and church.
For instance, at one point in my life I was a photography
major and my desire was to work for National Geographic traveling to wild
places to photograph, you guessed it… nature.
At some point, I became convinced that my talent was not enough and the
competition too much to continue on this career path so I chose to go into
marketing.
This was by all measures a good decision as I enjoyed my
career and had the pleasure of working with lots of creative people which
allowed me to think creatively as well.
But now, I would like to explore my creativity on an even more personal level with this
camera I purchased. Alas, I find my time being parsed up so much that I rarely
take the time to just go shoot photos.
Granted I can’t blame all of this on requests from others. I
do have a desire to stay connected to folks via email, social media, lunch
dates and outings. I do make it a priority to workout at the local Y several
times a week and I have started the Couch to 5K running program about 6 times
since I retired.
It's just that between the big and little
things I want to do and the demands on my time from others, I find it hard to
get to the BIG, creative, fun things on my list.
So… maybe I haven’t’ got this retirement thing quite all
figured out yet.
Do you have some advice on how to make the best of retirement?
Or maybe you're sitting there playing the world's smallest violin for me and your desire is to tell me to stop whining.
Then by all means, toss me a comment in the space below.
Ciao for now!
Miriam
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