Hi, Luise. I was on the board about a year ago. This was the only way I could find to reach you. Just wanted to let you know that, altho' I was pretty much fine when I started on the board, I am doing very well now. My first granddaughter (and last grandchild) was born in April. I will never get to see her in person -- which is fine -- but my son sends me pictures every so often, which is nice -- along with hateful e-mails. I never respond. I am so over it all now. (If we don't want too many soppy movies, we realize it's just like any other death -- we grieve, it's over, we move on.) I just feel sorry for my boys. THanks for letting me be here for the short while I needed to be. It was very comforting. With that said --
Joybop, I suggest you get some help from your MD with resetting your body clock. :-)
I always heard that 'research' (they never tell you what research) proved that it takes the normal person about 5 years to adjust to retirement. I've been retired about 6 years now, and it's been in only the past year that I've REALLY enjoyed being retired. (Perhaps it was just the 'power of suggestion' from all the articles I read about the 5-year time span? I don't think so. We work about 20-40 years -- I realize think it takes a good amt of time to adjust -- in fact, I think 5 years is somewhat short.) I'm back in college (not this Sept.-June). I faithfully go to bed at 9-10 p.m. and I'm up at 4-5 a.m., and I LOVE the fact that I no longer have to jump in the shower and 'get out there' (except for Tai Chi mornings -- 5 of them a week!). But that's only come in the past year or so.
After I retired, I joined a knitting group which is part of The Linus Project. I started learning Tai Chi with a small group of women, and the 6 of us have become good friends. I did some traveling (by car) this past fall (I was fortunate to be able to do a lot of traveling when I was young, so traveling overseas is not a desire of mine now), and in the spring I plan to do more. I'm learning how to write magazine articles, etc. I love to read nonfiction, and I'm a great movie buff (I have to limit myself to one every day or two, or I'd watch too much LOL). I did a great deal of volunteer work from the time I was 40 until just last year -- I'm not sure I ever want to it again. :-) (And, besides, so many places are so shorthanded these days, volunteers are often treated like employees -- and there are lots of things NOT good about that! LOL)
So there's nothing 'great' going on in my life, but I just love being retired. And I'm fortunate in that I'm an introvert, and I love silence and solitude. I have a very close friend -- who is out and about 7 days a week from dawn to dusk (not much of an exaggeration), and when she has to stay in -- as we've had to do the past few days -- our city is blanketed with ice -- she goes crazy. I love it! And we laugh at each other. But I have good reason to believe that she thinks that if she slows down, death will catch her. Whereas my attitude is, "So what." I have a very good author friend, who is 75, and I asked him what he is doing these days (he lives alone, in a remote part of The US), and his response was, "Preparing to die. Is there anything more important?" And I was talking with my women friends a while back, and I said, "Since I retired (at 62), I'm always thinking in terms of 'how much time do I left'? And they burst out laughing and said they do too. Next year, through my senior center, I'm starting a year-long group and we're going to spend a year as though it were our last year alive. :-) (I've already got people who can't wait for the group to start! LOL)
Certainly one of the things I'm doing in retirement is preparing to die. I don't want it to catch me unawares. My friend, on the other hand, wants to be struck down while she's running around. :-) And I think -- to each her own.
I think it takes a while to adjust to the fact that we are no longer part of "The 9-5 Group". (Every time I hear "Let The River Run" from the movie 'The Working Girl', I get tears in my eyes. LOL) No matter whether or not we loved our jobs or whether or not we were burnt out by the time we retired -- there's something about getting up in the morning, with
so many millions of Americans, and joining our large (or small) work 'family' and being part of productive America -- and we got paid for it too! :-) I think 'it' (whatever 'it' is) actually gets into the cells of our physical bodies. And when it's over, we go, "Ok, now what?" -- and then there's a mourning period.
You've been retired such a short while. It can't be all that 'familiar' to you yet. :-) Give yourself some time to be perhaps a little antsy, a little confused. It will all come together. I promise.
Hang in there.
