on retirement...
No matter how much we say that we are looking forward to days when there is no alarm to tug us out of bed, lots of time to do all that we want, the first year or so are rather hard, it seems to me. It is difficult there is no doubt about it, to adjust to the no-rush hours after the always-rush hours. I've seen this to be actually hurtful, in a couple of people, as in, a kind of reverse happens. Not knowing what to do with all this time that is suddenly available can be crippling, unless one is prepared - and yet, it is not possible to have a fool-proof plan in place...Having a hobby helps in the transition between working life and retirement, because that forms a kind of link, a continuous chain, as it were, between the two phases. Doing 'all that I've wanted to do' with a vengeance doesn't work out. Sleeping in (with a vengeance), reading (with a vengeance), watching movies or the tv (with a vengeance), travelling (with a vengeance)......whatever...done with a vengeance, as if making up for lost time never works out. It only succeeds in hurting the mind and wounding the spirit so that the soul is always restless and loses its peace.
One also has to cope with the barrage of feelings that suddenly flood the mind, unbidden.
More and more I'm tending to believe that whether we wish to do it or not, it would be wise to give the inevitable last phase of life some thought...
There is no doubt - it is not easy.