Thursday Ramble: What has changed in retirment

I am a little over two years into retirement, long enough to have passed the extended vacation phase, and I am starting to understand the joys of retirement. 

I recently realized that when I was working I often wanted to escape, to get away, from work. I wanted to go someplace and be quiet, to do nothing, to talk to no one. And this was very-very hard to do. At best I might get a random day or two here and there, but for the most part vacation days were just replacing one filled calendar for another filled calendar. Since retirement I don't have this feeling. I am often able to have quality alone time. There is nothing in my life that I wish to escape. It is not that I don't want to get out and see the wonders, I do this often, or travel - I love to travel and will keep traveling as long as I am able to - but it is no longer to escape. I don't need to escape from this life. 

The longer I am retired, the less my identity is tied to my work. When introducing myself, my work is no longer in the first sentence. Slowly it is moving into the third or fourth sentence, sometimes not even being there at all. I am retired. Not a retired lawyer.  I am no longer afraid of the term retirement.  It is nothing to be ashamed of, or afraid of. We worked and saved for many years to be able to do this. 

I no longer dread Mondays. Monday morning, is just another morning. Sunday evening is no longer filled with fear and loathing. There are differences from day to day. Sunday is CBS Sunday Morning Show and 60 Minutes, Thursday and Saturday are water aerobics. Saturday if the weather is nice is farmers market morning. Everyday I walk, and most afternoons I spend time in the pool. The day to day, stress level is very even. 

It took me a couple of years, to replace the social network of the office, with social connections in the community. This is something many people fail to do. I was surprised how fast, and how completely the work related network ended.  There is one person from my old office that I stay in monthly contact with. A couple of people that I connect with a few times a year. But most of them are busy with their work lives. I have new connections, here in the community. 

The last few years that I worked the income far exceeded my needs. It is easy to say I miss the income. But we have enough, our savings have grown over the last two years. I remind myself that we can't take it with us, and we should start spending what we want (within reason - once a stingy bastard, always a stingy bastard.) 

I think I have moved forward into an engaged, but relaxed phase of life. Then I am shocked to think, HOW CAN I BE OLD ENOUGH TO BE RETIRED?