About that list ….
Then I actually retired and discovered that there were days when
my “list” was of absolutely no value to me at all! A year out and I have discovered that there
are items on my list that I thought were my deal breakers, the only raisin
d’etre there was for early retirement.
Now, some of those items don’t seem all that important at all. And there are now activities on my list that
I didn’t see coming ….. that bird watching group, for example!
Here’s my fifth
mad retiree tip - once you have actually retired, be flexible
about your list … because once you’re out in the big, bad retired world with
all that free time on your hands, you will be surprised, and perhaps even a
little bit shocked with how you eventually end up spending all of that time. Have I mentioned bird watching ….. ?
There’s no prize for getting to the end of
your list first …
Here’s my sixth mad retiree tip –
don’t start volunteering, don’t sign up for any long-term courses, don’t commit
to any short term contracts, don’t make any major life commitments, etc.,
during your first year of retirement. You need time to make the adjustment from
gainful employment to gainful unemployment.
I was
adamant that I wanted to lead non-stop campus tours starting the moment I
retired. Heck, if y’all remember, I was
desperate to get the gig leading tours at the Mattamy Athletics Centre. As many campus tours on as many days as I
thought I could possibly manage.
But no opportunities presented themselves.
And now, one
year out – I am extraordinarily thankful they did not. If they had, I would now be complaining long
and loud about how much of my new-found free time I was losing to these
“volunteer opportunities”! I realize now, at the end of my first year, that not
getting any gigs as a regular, volunteer tour guide was the best thing that
could have happened. I needed this first
year to settle into my new mindset, to let new patterns and schedules develop
naturally. Now, at the end of my first
year, I can see where I might be able to fit a few volunteer opportunities into
my schedule – only if I have the time, of course!
.... you know what? It really does take a year!
