Three prominent things about being recently retired baffle me. Maybe other readers feel the same:
I never know what day it is.
I just can’t get into a routine with my housework and shopping.
I can’t grasp the idea that we don’t need to wait for the weekend to do special things.
So, at the moment I’m spending most of my time drifting around doing very little. “There’s no rush,” I tell myself. “I can do it tomorrow!!”
I check the TV Guide to see which page is turned back from the previous evening to remind myself what day it is.
I’m waiting unnecessarily for Saturday and Sunday so I can “enjoy myself “ at the pub or a restaurant – if we ever find the courage to go out amid the Corvid worries.
I’ve promised myself that I will keep living an active, productive, and rewarding life but the Covid restrictions and Colin’s convalescence are gripping me. Anyway I don’t want to “peak too soon” because, if I’m really lucky, my retirement years could span a long, long way.
Equally I’m painfully aware that time is not guaranteed and a little voice says, “Come on girl. This is it, fill your days to the brim. This is not a rehearsal.”
As things slowly begin to re-open I’m hoping to start feeling useful again (a feeling I seem to lack nowadays. Is this down to Government restrictions or retirement?). I’m delighted to be restarting visits to my 87 year old mother in her sheltered flat and collecting the grandchildren from school. I plan to seek some voluntary work, dine out (midweek), start the local Yoga class…
The quandary is that if I cram the days, I’ll be right back to square one. Before I retired everything was Hectic! Hectic! Hectic! There must be a happy medium and I’m determined to find it. By the next article I’m intending to have a casual routine featuring exciting events.
I’m not sure who I’m trying to convince – you or myself! Maybe I’ll do just one more jigsaw while I’m deciding where to go next. After all, what’s the rush?
Lynda Taylor
