A New Intention

Good morning all. It has been awhile since I’ve posted. I’ve been reading blogs, but staying silent. I’m just getting used to this retirement schedule – meaning…no schedule. It feels sort of like I’m self-employed and working from home. I never thought I could work from home. Pictured myself in my pj’s all day without the ability to focus. Retirement is similar right now. I’m trying to determine a schedule. Here is what I have so far:

1. Wake around 6:30
2. Take a current novel to my reading chair with coffee (approx. 1 hour)
3. Fire up the computer and read email, blogs, and tweets (second cup of java)
4. Catch up on the news from my fav news blog “The Skimm”
5. Outside for a walk or bike ride
6. Shower/makeup (in case I pass someone in public today)
7. Plan a fabulous dinner for hubby (hasn’t really been fabulous yet)
8. Outside to pull some weeds and feed the birds
9. Clean something in the house
10. One hour of piano practice
11. Fill in the blank till hubby comes home

So there it is – so far. Do you see what’s missing? Yeah, me too. No human interaction. No other live humans are involved in any of those activities.

I’ve never felt uncomfortable with solitude. I played well with myself as a kid and my recent job had me working in solitude most of the time. We’ve moved to six states during our marriage, so friends and acquaintances have come and gone easily.

So, here is #12. I may need to place it somewhere in the middle of the day. It may be a lunch meeting, an invitation for coffee with a neighbor, or a volunteer opportunity.

12. Be intentional to develop relationships with others.

Is it strange to list such an obvious activity on a daily to-do list?

Now What?

Yesterday was my last day of work…forever. Meaning, my last day of employment work. I retired yesterday after 45 years of employment to someone else. I retired from other people’s expectations, timelines, and evaluations. I’ve retired from sitting, standing, driving, eating, and vacationing on someone else’s schedule. Not that I didn’t enjoy my work….

So I sit here this morning, on my first day of retirement, doing some housecleaning – not the closets yet, but in my head. I want to be intentional here. I’m the boss of me now. I make the scheduling decisions now. I decide when to start my day and when to finish – when to eat lunch and when to sit, stand, or dance.

Up until this morning, I had a bucket list in my head of all the wonderful things I would do in retirement. This morning I don’t remember any of them. I’m in awe of my freedom to make choices. My mind is blank.

I’ve accomplished two things this morning. I’ve changed my password, and I made a haircut appointment for the middle of the day tomorrow.

baby steps…