I gave my inner critical voice a name* and it’s made such a difference. I thought about her personality and what she would look like. For me, she’s an older nosy-neighbour type who always thinks she knows best. I chose a name for her that isn’t a name that I have encountered very often in… Continue reading I Named My Inner Critic
Author: Caroline@retiredandnowwhat.ca
I'm a life coach discovering the opportunities and growth in midlife and beyond.
What is the best time of day?
Early morning. Watching anywhere as it starts to wake up. Everything moves slowly and quietly. The light is starting to brighten and if you’re in a town, there is the smell of bread baking and the clink of cups being filled with tea or coffee. Just a question and a thought. What is your best… Continue reading What is the best time of day?
Find Your Passion In How Things Work
I have no idea how most of the things that I rely on everyday work. It’s a mystery to me how my electric kettle boils my tea and how my phone sends texts. I know how to operate these items, but I couldn’t build one. I find I am increasingly accepting of the fact that… Continue reading Find Your Passion In How Things Work
Building On and Moving On
“She failed retirement,” laughed a retired work colleague as she spoke about her partner. Her partner had tried to retire for a year or so but was lured back to work in a job that used some of the skills she had developed from a career in education. It wasn’t the same job that she… Continue reading Building On and Moving On
What are you keeping that no longer serves you?
I’m the first to admit that teachers are incessant collectors. We can’t help it. In a chronically under-funded education system, elementary school teachers use scraps of coloured tissue paper, dried leaves and wine corks for art and science lessons. Paper towel rolls can be sculptures or bird feeders or the axles of rubber band cars.… Continue reading What are you keeping that no longer serves you?
Good Enough
Be prepared to mess up. During lockdown I wanted to learn a new skill that would keep my hands and mind busy. Using good ole Youtube, I taught myself to crochet. I was making little bee toys to remind my students to bee kind to themselves as the world was turned upside down. I messed… Continue reading Good Enough
Find The Funny.
A Personal Lesson. Humour is essential to surviving the sad and difficult times in life and he understood that implicitly. Maybe it was surviving the Blitz in Coventry as a child, and surviving childhood TB, that formed his sense of humour? He enjoyed finding the humour in people’s everyday actions. He often poked fun at himself… Continue reading Find The Funny.
Being Kind To My Mind
Do I ruminate when I resist getting out of bed? I was listening to a well-known mental health personality the other day and she recommended the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown to get out yourself out of bed in the morning and prevent rumination. Being retired now, and having the time to think and write, I started to… Continue reading Being Kind To My Mind
Learning To Say,“No.”
Working full-time gave me permission to opt out of things that I didn’t want to do. There wasn’t enough time to say, “Yes,” to everything. My time was occupied. Others understood this and I did too. The Guilt Of Job-Free Time. Now, I have lots of time that isn’t formally structured. It’s like having a… Continue reading Learning To Say,“No.”
Some days are hard.
“You Can’t Use Up Creativity, the More You Use the More You Have” – Maya Angelou. Some days are hard. They are tires spinning on ice. Days when I can’t find the ideas that stick and want to be written about. Nothing jumps up and shouts, “Me, me!” The ideas remain just out of grasp,… Continue reading Some days are hard.
Retired, And Now What? 