This first year of retirement has been truly amazing. Nevertheless it is worth standing back and taking a look at how things are and what we still need to work on.
Without wanting to faff around too much, it is easier to just do some bullet points:
Things that I’m thankful for:
- I am so thankful my retirement has happened. I know for sure it has happened for some reason, even though I don’t fully understand why. That’s where faith and trust is important
- My health is sorting itself out. I had an operation on my prostate, my kidney function is reduced but quite stable and they should keep going for the rest of my life. My eyesight has improved also (no stress related distortion)
- Fitness is slowly improving. A few days ago I did a 5k Parkrun in 27 minutes and feel mostly okay. Six months ago I would have been completely shattered and it would have taken me several days to recover. Now I still need time to recover, more than I think I should need but things are slowly improving. I want to get back to running a marathon once a year; I believe I can do this!
- Contentment, less stress, feelings of well-being and having more time for people is so good
- Appreciating our home and (especially during these summer months) the garden
- Being able to socialise more
- Being able to get involved in some worthwhile organisations on a voluntary basis
- Our income is, in theory, sufficient for our needs but I do think we need to keep a careful eye on things. At some point we need to access my main work pension but I’m not sure when the best time for this will be. We have spent more than we had in mind over the last 12 months
- Being able to be more spontaneous with opportunities
- Being able to see our daughters more by visiting them
- Blogging is a nice way of recording things and I have had a number of interesting contacts, conversations and comments
- The way I have used my time is okay. I think I have a good balance with things but it is never perfect. When I say “balance” I mean doing voluntary work, socialising, at home, family, hobbies. I also mean this in terms of what I have the energy to do
- I am pleased I have been able to keep my brain going (sort of) and have become involved as a trustee in a charity which has had me involved in HR things and soon some structural/business things. I needed to decline a couple of similar invitations from others once news of my retirement spread a little
Things to work on:
- Our house hasn’t changed much. I had in mind all kinds of decorating and adopting a different kind of interior design. The only decoration which has taken place is our bathroom and that was done by a friend of mine!
- Decluttering hasn’t really started. We have far too much STUFF in our attic, in fact I think it has gained on us. The garage hasn’t even had its annual spring clean and sort out as it usually happens
- Our roles at home. We need to get these sorted…. who pays the bills, who does the cleaning, washing, cooking and so on. This is long overdue!
- Making the most of being a Fellow of the RSA. While I have become involved in one nice project, I am sure there are some more things I can contribute to and be stimulated by
- Doing some of the things I REALLY WANT to do; but feel constrained at. Without going into too many details, I need to remind myself of the need to see things as a “time and season” for doing certain things. I need to be patient and not to be selfish
- Blogging. I still want to do so much more. Another blog of mine has been really successful with hundreds of page views each day and even brought in a small income (some cash and in-kind). Probably need to have a plan, a strategy to keep me focussed
Related: when I retired last year – click here
