Every day I am asked if I am counting down the days until I
retire. I am not consciously doing it but for the record I have 29 actual
work days to complete. Most people, regardless of age, dream of
retirement. Let’s be honest. The majority of people wouldn’t work
if they didn’t need to do so. People, however, get attached to things
like housing, heat, food, running water, and indoor plumbing. If you
value these things you probably have to work for them for most of your
life. People assume that I am doing cartwheels in my mind now that I am
finally retiring. I can’t deny that I am looking forward to it and each
day I am reminded how happy I will be to no longer have to perform or worry
about work related chores. I don’t want to offend anyone but I also look
forward to not having to deal with people on a daily basis with their various
personalities and idiosyncrasies. Although I am a people person, the real
me is more of a solitary hermit. There are moments when I think I should
have stayed in the monastery but even in the monastery you have to deal with
all kinds of people. Don’t misunderstand me. I like people and I
generally care about others. I just find other people exhausting a great
deal of the time. This is more about my personality than their
behavior. I look forward to the mental and physical freedom of not having
to work every day. However, when a person retires they are giving up more
than a regular paycheck. Working has been part of my lifestyle for my
entire adult life. Many people don’t know who they are when you take work
out of the equation. We tend to think we are what we do.
Personally, I have never believed that. Working has always just been
something I do and it is not who I am. How I work is a truer reflection
of who I am. Leaving the workplace means giving up some structure in my
life as well as leaving behind some friendships that will be challenging to
maintain without the shared experience of working together. I will no
doubt have some days when I wonder if I did the right thing. At the same
time my heart tells me it is time. I have run the race and I have made it
to the finish line. It is time for the next phase of my journey whatever
that turns out to be. Soon the book of my life will begin a new chapter
and the blank pages will fill up with other adventures. What will they
be? I have some ideas and thoughts but no new commitments on the
horizon. The story is not over yet. Who knows what awaits
me?
