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
After 2 years into retirement, it seems like my weeks are either full of (self-chosen) activities or completely empty. Full and happy, this-is-great weeks. Or boring, am-I-failing-at-this-retirement-thing weeks. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need a life-concierge, one who is better at time management than me! When you are the concierge of your own … Continue reading Feast or Famine
Doing some cleaning-out (Yes, I am trying to do the Marie Kondo method – not super successfully, but trying!), I just found a list of “quotes” in a notebook from about 10 years ago. They are a bit of guidance to myself on how to live life fully - using your mind and making conscious … Continue reading Does the knowing make the doing any easier?
I’m a type-A, high achiever. I am intelligent and disciplined. I work hard at tasks given and make things happen. And I want to let my (inner) bad-girl out! I play by the rules. I do what is expected. I was (am) the good girl - the honor-roll student, the responsible daughter, the met-expectations employee, … Continue reading Let the Bad Girl Out!
One of the things I have tried to do during retirement transition is to stay positive about the changes happening. I have to admit, I am more a pessimist by nature and yes, I defiantly have RBF (for those new to that term….resting bitch face). During my work career, my pessimism showed up … Continue reading Turn that Frown Upside Down
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?
Learning the joy of an empty calendar is not easy. Busy is a sign of worthiness, a sign of being needed and wanted, a sign of achievement and success. I found that a completely empty calendar just made me feel worthless, adrift, and unhappy. On a recent trip to our beach cottage, this was highlighted … Continue reading Joy in an Empty Calendar?
As I have been working through my retirement transition, a series of mantras have helped me along the journey. I repeatedly go back to these statements when I hit some of the lows or stumble on this path forward. 1) Keep a positive attitude. This isn’t rocket science. Many, many people have successfully navigated the retirement … Continue reading Words of Wisdom to Myself
When was the last time you truly changed a life pattern? Stopped a long-term habit? Started a new habit, formed a new relationship, or learned a new skill? Changing patterns is not easy – and even a huge change like retirement transition doesn’t make creating new habits a simple task. You do not wake up … Continue reading Breaking through the Barriers
So retirement is all happy, happy, happy, right? Not so much this first year where it felt a little bit like a roller coaster. Many happy, stress-free days but also, the low points did happen. You try something and get negative feedback. You lean in for something and get rejected. You feel totally uncertain … Continue reading The Lows of Transition
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