I sort-of have to admit that I have been “retired” since 2001. Amazing, huh?
I know, that means that I must have had my first paying job somewhere around when I was seven or so, but just get over it.....I got very lucky and have taken advantage of one of the very few breaks in my life. It came with heavy costs, but I can live with that and have moved beyond it.
In my retirement, I have never made up daily lists as Alan has done. But, of course, I have never accomplished anywhere near as much as Alan has, before or after announcing his so-called “retirement”, and I marvel at how he does it all. Whenever I DO write down daily lists, I have gotten an amazing amount of things done.....Truly amazing! But that doesn’t happen often - I would rather ride my bike instead, as that becomes my “Zen” time for the day, and I’m liking more and more “Zen” every day.
As my retirement has matured, I have even looked for low(er)-impact things to do (or not do) to ease me into advancing age gracefully, not as someone who has to get a lot done, but just because. For example, the totally automated, multi-bed, full-garden, drip watering system we have for our Veggy garden is something awesome to behold, even on “Crocket’s Victory Garden” or “This Old House”. And once it is set up and running, I don’t have to do anything! It just works, whether we are home or not! (The friggin woodchuck I had to “relocate, now that’s another whole thing!)
All that said, I have still managed to accomplish a lot, some of it car related and some not, but rather than wade through 200 - 300 emails every day and countless phone calls and 5 - 6 usless meetings per day when I was working for a living, I can head over to the farm I volunteer at and plant 500 Broccoli seeds in a short morning and hang out with other volunteer farmers and drink semi-bad coffee with them. I think that is pretty cool.
So hang in there, Lane. I got lucky and rode the coat-tails of a start-up that actually made it ( most of them don’t ) and the path I took is not for everyone, but some time soon you and Pam will decide that enough is enough and that you have enough put aside to take that big step off the cliff into “retirement”. It is different for everyone, so just take a stab at what you think it should be and go for it - you guys will figure it out as you go along (and it will be a constant work in progress) but you’ll get there.
Gordon
The retired Speedstah Guy, Livin’ the Life...
