Unretirement

“Find a penny, pick it up.
And all the day, you'll have good luck.”

I was sitting in a room this morning waiting for my job interview to begin when I looked down and saw a shiny new penny lying on the floor at my feet. Immediately this child's ditty ran through my head. Sitting alone, I bent over to pick it up and set it on the coffee table. I thought if I put it in my pocket that bad luck might follow. I knew this was a good omen for me and as it turned out, I was hired on the spot before the interview ended.

For many months I have struggled with my retirement lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, it has been wonderful beyond my wildest dreams. Yet I seem to have great difficulty believing and saying that I am retired. So many questions! How come it has turned out this way for me? Dare I say privileged? Why have I made the decisions that I have? Why have I been unable to call this time I have been unemployed, retirement?

I picked up a book from the New and Noteworthy section of the library called What Color Is Your Parachute For Retirement Now For The Rest Of Your Life, by Richard N. Bolles and John E. Neilson.
In the first few pages of the book I read the following quotation which seemed to put into perspective so many things I have been struggling with.

“So whereas the traditional concept of retirement planning was primarily about money,
more realistic approach now also gives equal weight to health and happiness.” and
“Retirement planning is changing in another way too. Our parents and grandparents were
mostly focused on how to retire 'from something' – their job. For you, though,
retirement planning can focus on retiring TO something – your next stage of life.”

Basically, the book explains the life stages as follows; education as a time of self development and no freedom. Next we enter the life stage of work and productivity and still little freedom. The third stage of life is retirement with it's leisure and freedom. It is a journey towards freedom. Yes, that is it! The book suggests that we want to do more than survive retirement – we want to thrive in our retirement.

Nursing allowed me to gain some insight into these different stages of life. I loved having one on one conversations with my patients. Over time, I noticed a common theme throughout the senior citizens; REGRET. “If I had it to do over...”, “it wasn't suppose to be like this...”, “getting old is not for the faint of heart..”, and “I wish I would have done this ten years ago.”
One particular quiet patient sat on the edge of his bed as I dutifully advised him on healthy living lifestyles. After a moment he asked me if he could give me a piece of advise. Sure, I said, “Simply,don't wait to do those things you want for retirement. Do them now because you never know what retirement has in store for you. My retirement has been a great disappointment with my poor health, an ill wife, and no desire and energy to do those things I always wanted too.”

It was a pivotal moment in my life. My mom and dad both died at a relatively young age, 64 and 66 respectively. His advise rang a warning in me that I had always knew since my parents' early death.

Many new terms are out there for retirement; the new retirement, Re – firement, Re – wirement, rest of life, the second half of life, the third age, and maybe even unretirement. However you choose to label it, it can be a time of great health and happiness as I have found out.

To that end, I decided to work this temporary almost full time job to continue to enjoy those things that I have embraced as my next stage of life. I have not gone back to work as an R.N (much to the puzzlement of Bill and the person who hired me). I seem to have a need to change things up from time to time. I am going to work as a Clerk II in the mass immunization clinics. I will be the front line worker prior to the administration of the flu shot. Since I have been told that a change is a good as a rest, this should fulfill that part. I start next week and it finishes early December. Working three months a year is a dream come true. Yet again I am blessed in ways that I cannot explain.

“If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.”
Joseph Campbell
WKH

A Letter From Camp.

I found a computer. It is one mile from my campsite. It is free. The walk along the edge of the lake is awesome.
I am having a wonderful time.
I feel grubby.
I have finished one book.
I have done many sudoku and kakuro.
The nights are strikingly black.
The nights are deafeningly quiet.
The sun is hot. The water is warm.
The bears are close but have not entered the campground.
The eating is non stop.
The huckleberries are in season and is excellent on an ice cream sundae.
I could really enjoy this life style.
WKH

My Embarassing Problem of Vacations

I am once again leaving for a two week vacation.
Goodness this is getting embarrassing. :)
This time I have been invited to go camping with my sister, her husband and various extended family members. I believe there will be more than a dozen of us young and old at any given time. We are going to Priest Lake, Idaho.
They have been going to this lake for 29 years. I have gone once before with Jill and Jackie. That was about 19 years ago. As I remember it was a pretty cool holiday then. The girls got lots of lake swimming and tanning in.
I say camping, but really it is camping in a motorhome. I believe they have stove, fridge, fridge-freezer, microwave, oven, but no dishwasher. Well I guess that is why I am along.
My sister says it is a relaxing time where we will read and sleep on the beach. She says she usually polishes off a half dozen books. I’m all over that.
I will have to leave my laptop at home. I believe there is no wireless hotspot at this little piece of heaven. I have discovered that I am rather attached to my computer. It might even border on addiction. Thus this will be a good little timeout for me. However if I do find a computer at the little corner store, I probably will go on a time or two.
So for now, I will leave it behind and will concentrate on all those big questions without the help of the computer. For example:
Why do you have to wash out the inside of the dishwasher?
Why can you write on a pencil eraser with a pencil?
Why does a soap bar get grubby and dirty?
Why does a person who is retired and thus unemployed, have more holidays than ever before?
I will think of you all while I am on the beach examining the inside of my eyelids.
Don’t worry my sunscreen and bug spray is packed. I will practice safe sun.

WKH