Retirement 101 (originally posted on June 7, 2012)

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Joanne Edith

3 Comments

I am new to this retirement gig.

On March 6th, after 44 years, I happily said goodbye to the corporate world:

I said goodbye to the 2 hr. commute to Manhatten.

I said goodbye to sleepless Sunday nights and stressful Friday executive meetings.

I said goodbye to PC’s and Blackberrys.

I said goodbye to red-eye flights from LAX.

I said goodbye to global teleconferences, performance plans and progress reports.

I said hello to lazy mornings in bed with a new puppy.

I said hello to days with nothing on the schedule.

I said hello to grandsons ‘popping in’ without checking first to see if Grandma was “free”.

I said hello to whipping up breakfast, for my ‘returning-from-a-jog’ daughter.

I said hello to morning bubble baths, accompanied by the beautiful music of backyard birds.

I bake bread on weekdays.

I go to the gym when I want to.

I realize that I don’t need to save my chores for weekends.

I take relaxed walks with my new puppy.

I take golf lessons and swimming lessons.

I knit, I play piano, I sing, I bake, I shop, and I smile.

Grandma, wife, mother, sister, puppy ‘human’, mentor, musician, gardener, homemaker, photographer, journalist, and person are roles I can now embrace without encumbrance.

Oh yes, this retirement gig is new to me, but I’m adjusting well to the transition from my corporate, professional identity to the me I always knew was lurking inside. I now have permission to become all that I can be.

“Free to be you and me” has meaning once again, to this ‘old’ (only as old as I feel) dog.

I write this to enter the weekly Trifecta Challenge, using definition number 3:

1: having recently come into existence

2 a (1) : having been seen, used, or known for a short time (2) : unfamiliar
b : being other than the former or old
3: NEW: having been in a relationship or condition but a short time <new to the job> <a new wife>

Title: Retirement 101

Category: Retirement, Trifecta Writing Challenge (Archives)

3 Comments on “Retirement 101 (originally posted on June 7, 2012)”

Michael Lai
January 18, 2013

Welcome to the world of the retired! What you said above are mostly applicable to me (except that I am male and not residing in your part of the world). Thanks for the “like” on my post in retireediary, Regards, Michael

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- BCIJo (aka Joanne Edith)
  January 18, 2013
  
  Thank you, Michael. As I had hoped, my new-found free time is giving me space to do things I want to do as priorities rather than squeezing them in to weekends. I hope you enjoy your retirement as well. And thanks for stopping by…Joanne
  
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  - Michael Lai
    January 18, 2013
    
    Best wishes on your retirement!
    
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