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?
There are many moments in life that cause us to stop and reflect. In looking back, hopefully you can marvel at your accomplishments and not regret your choices. And then, look forward to adjust, reinforce the path, or re-establish habits. I just passed my one-year anniversary of being a blogger. It’s been an amazing year … Continue reading Looking Back – 1 Year of Blogging
I get so much positive inspiration when reading other’s blogs - the positive attitude when facing an illness; the ability to see the silver lining in the crisis. (You guys know who you are – thank you!) This post is unfortunately not going to be positive inspiration. I discovered that when "life happens", I reverted … Continue reading Life Happens
An in-depth survey was recently published (Age Wave/Merrill Lynch) that identified a “2-year retirement transition” phase they called Liberation and Self-Discovery. Having just passed my 2-year mark, I felt encouraged to look back and see what I had accomplished, especially in relationship to the survey averages. I’m also stealing my review format from Mr. FireStation … Continue reading Retirement Transition 2 Year Mark
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?
Most Living with Asperger’s Syndrome information is about the individual who has it and how they can best function in the world. A great deal is written about children and maximizing developmental growth for someone with AS. But what about the people who live with the adult who has Asperger’s? Living with the adult who … Continue reading Living with Asperger’s
Janis over at Retirementallychallenged published an interesting life list she had come across. (I wish I had the skill to do that last line with the appropriate link!) Her blog post made me go on-line to explore other people’s life lists to see if there were some new ideas for my own possibilities list. (There … Continue reading What’s on Your List?
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
Years ago, one of my MegaCorp annual performance evaluation tools we used was called “Start, Stop, Continue”. I’m not sure how broadly this was used, but it was better than the “accomplishments and weaknesses” of previous years. That was before the Discover Your Strengths phenomenon; I always hated the weaknesses area! But the start/stop/continue was … Continue reading Start, Stop, Continue
When I choose my word for the year to be Joy, I wanted to be happier every day. Transitions are hard, and I wanted to intentionally manage the roller coaster of feelings this huge change of entering retirement was creating in my life. Being the geeky researcher, I did a bunch of reading about emotions. … Continue reading Increasing Emotional Awareness
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