Things I Have Noticed In My Retirement

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I have been retired for almost a year and a half.  It was a rough adjustment in the beginning but now I am enjoying it very much.  In fact I cannot imagine living any other way.  I hope I have a long and healthy life ahead of me.

There are a few things, however, that I have noticed about myself as my retirement continues.  I am not sure if these are just the feelings of an aging man or typical of retired life.

I love mornings and I hate nights.  Morning for me represents new life.  It is a new beginning and a new gift.  I look forward to every day.  There is never anything to dread.  The worst thing about any day is that I may have a few chores and errands to complete.  These always seem to happen on days when I don’t want to do anything.  I love my freedom.  I can mostly do anything I want whenever I want.  Admittedly, I dread the ending of a day and the approaching night.  Unlike during my working days I am never exhausted.  Therefore I never long for my bed.  In retirement I can eat when I am hungry and nap when I am tired.  Sometimes I wish I never needed to go to bed at all.  The darkness of night seems like death.  The worst times of my day are always at night.  These are times I can’t sleep or I feel restless.  Many nights I toss and turn and wake up.  Often when I wake up it seems like it takes forever to fall back asleep.  When nature calls I feel like the only person in the world who is awake.  The bottom line is that night time seems like a battle or an endurance test.  In the middle of the night I long for the sunrise.  I have also noticed that it is always at night when I worry or fear for the future.  At 3:00 AM it is relatively easy to create scenarios in your head about everything that can go wrong in your life.  I never worry or feel fearful in the light of day.

My retirement is very simple and I like it that way.  I do not have a bucket list and there aren’t thousands of goals that I want to attain now that I have the time.  I like my quiet and simple life.  I wake up naturally and usually early.  It is a rare thing to sleep past 8:00 AM.  My breakfast is usually some granola followed by several cups of coffee.  While eating and drinking my coffee I watch a little news.  The news is generally depressing so I have been making a concerted effort to cut back on time spent watching the news.  I also spent a little time each day on checking email and social media.  I would like to spend less time on social media but sadly I am as addicted as most other people.  I thought I would read a lot more than I am doing.  There are stacks of unread books in my room waiting to be read.  It may never happen.  I do, however, still listen to a lot of music because it gives me a great deal of joy.  Most days I walk in the park.  I need the exercise and I love being in nature.

So, for the most part, life is good and I am a happy and content man.  No one needs to worry about me.  I am doing great.