My word for this year is Joy. Living a year of finding joy in the little moments, finding joy in not working, and finding joy in exploring new things has been uplifting. New things that added joy to my life: a long-weekend trip to NOLA with hubby, Zumba, Cooking Boot Camp, regular beach yoga in … Continue reading The Joy of Not Working
Recently I’ve heard a number of folks talking (both live and on blogs) about “failing at retirement” and returning to work fulltime. While in some cases, these individuals discovered that they get a lot of personal satisfaction from their work, others in fact failed to replace full-time work with anything, and therefore defaulted to go … Continue reading The Work of Retirement
As I looked back at my 7 Life Domains Model on which I based my retirement life vision, I realized that I had not fully investigated the area of Self-Development/Volunteering. Serendipity has raised her head on this topic as well: A friend recently sent me the quote “You are either green and growing or ripe … Continue reading What is Personal Growth in Retirement?
One of the important needs that working full-time met for me was providing me with a strong sense of identity, especially since I was a workaholic with no children and no hobbies. Recall the 5 important needs that a full-time career provides: Financial Compensation, Structure & Routine, Accomplishment & Utility, Social Affiliation, and Identity & … Continue reading Who Am I?
We had not “traveled” for 5 years. Acquiring a second home and feeling obligated to maximize its use with limited vacation time meant that we spent “vacations” in Florida. Florida is, in most ways, not our traditional vacation mode but more just hanging out at the beach for 2 weeks! (Nothing wrong with that at … Continue reading Could I Not Over-plan and Survive?
When I chose the word “joy” for this year’s word, I wasn’t sure exactly what would happen. I had my new coffee mug imprinted with “Find Joy In Each Day”. I created my daily affirmation. I was not expecting that much. But I was pleasantly surprised, with this heightened awareness, how I could find the … Continue reading Word of the Year: Joy
Inspired by Mr Firestation’s blog on his “spark areas” about what he expects to be doing the first year of retirement, I took a look at what I am having fun doing! After my recent post on what-do-you-do, this list of things I’m having fun doing was eye-opening. Here are some of the … Continue reading What am I having fun doing in retirement?
Yes, I am one of those. The ones who identified themselves by what they did at work. The ones the experts say will struggle in retirement transition to find out who they are without work. As I struggled with “To work or Not to work”, What is my Identity?, and finding a life balance … Continue reading What do you do?
I realized recently I have developed a very strong habit of delaying gratification, of putting things off, of saying ”I will do that someday". Guess what – someday is here! But strongly held habits, ones you’ve had for years, are hard to break. And I've been putting things off for year and years. Even … Continue reading What am I waiting for?
I want my next stage of life to be “more play and less work” which means having a strong understanding of how my Leisure / Hobby Life Domain will come to life. Recall I’ve written about 7 Life Domains in thinking thru retirement transition. When I created my life vision using these domains, initially the … Continue reading Learning How to Play
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