I had long thought that people had either looked forward to retirement for
years or had to be pushed into it kicking and screaming. But for me I enjoyed the last job I had for the fourteen years I was in it, teaching English at a college in Japan, but I had had about enough and was ready to leave after moving to a department where I could no longer take long summer vacations to get to meetings in English in other countries. The most useful description I heard of retirement before then came from an AA member I met on one of those summer trips to Canada. He said that it wasn't boring, but it wasn't a panacea either. A member here thinks of it as a permanent vacation, and it can be that as well. I have found that it makes it easier to live a day at a time, without waiting for weekends and vacations to come around. I wake up each day and am happy that there will be things to do or not do that day. I have found plenty of meaningful things to do. I belong to lawn bowls and Scabble clubs, can get to as many meetings as I want to and am active in my religion. A midday walk is a vital part of most days, even when it's raining, betting out into sunlight, fresh air and a city I have come to love. I have a car but use it mostly to drive to things in other towns. At 64, I actually feel better than I ever have, having lost a bit of excess weight and able do get as much exercise as I want. In and old song, Jack and Diane, there is a line that goes, "Live goes on, long after the joy of living is gone." I have experienced more joy of living since I moved to Tasmania to retire six years ago than I ever experienced before then. |