Monday Moods: Retirement - Congratulations to Sean

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to Sean, aka Sassybear on being eligible to retire. Having met him, and heard some of the rest of the story, he has been a dedicated government employee for decades. His expertise has made a huge difference in the lives of people in his state. He is a true subject matter expert. He has cared deeply about his work, the people he works with, and who have worked for him. He has earned a future to do what he wants to do. 

Something I stumbled across a couple of years into retirement was the statement to "not just retire from something, but to retire to something." Anyone who retires does the first part, we leave behind the work - the people - the paychecks - the stress and headaches that most work includes. 

The second part is a key to being happy post employment. Retire to something - after a few days or weeks the novelty of an endless vacation wears off - and you need a purpose. You need a plan. I have a few dear friends that retired to provide Grandma and Grandpa nanny service - a few that retired to the golf course, or tennis court, or to ride a bike 200 miles a week. Some retire to a commitment to volunteering. Some retired to traveling the country or the world. 

When I was planning to retire, people asked "what are you going to do?" And being goal and job driven, I wrote myself a job description. The description included getting and staying more physically active, becoming involved in my community, traveling a bit, reading a lot, spending time practicing creative arts and exploring new arts, and enjoying cooking. Like any job description parts of it have been a smashing success, parts of it I am not any good at, but it did fill the need to retire to something. And that something will evolve over time. 

If all is on schedule, we fly home tomorrow from a month long grand adventure, our third since I retired. Being able to travel for more than 13 days in a row, was one of the things I retired to, it was a part of the plan. 

I urge you if you are eligible or soon to be eligible to make a plan to retire to something. 

If you are retired, think about your purpose, your goals, your plan. 

I am on a digital detox. This post was written ahead of time and scheduled to appear today. I have not missed posting at least once per day in over a decade. While on this detox, I will not have internet access many days, when I do have access it will be limited. Please continue to leave comments, but I may not reply to comments. I will read comments when I can. Normal service will resume in few days.