I’ve noticed an annoying time trap, now that I’m retired. Errands that used to take only a part of my working day, now seem to take the entire day to complete. My weekday calendar is dotted with a little something every day. When a friend asks me if I’m busy on Tuesday, a quick check… Continue reading Doing The Time Warp
Category: Retirement Tools
First Year On The Roller Coaster
Being a guest at a retirement party feels a lot different when you’ve been retired for almost a year. There’s the nostalgia of a wonderful celebration with colleagues, the speeches and the singing tribute. For me, there was the huge high of finishing something I was proud of, and the relief of finally letting go… Continue reading First Year On The Roller Coaster
Becoming Aware Of Knowledge
Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. Until you come up against new information, you have no idea that you were ignorant. Sure, there are subjects that I can confidently say that I know nothing about: engineering, haute couture, mining, and the history of Malaysia, to name just a very few. I’m comfortable knowing… Continue reading Becoming Aware Of Knowledge
Hold Me Accountable
Investigating a new opportunity can be so daunting that we avoid doing it. I know I do. Part of my retirement journey, has been to follow different paths that look interesting, and to see if they hold possibilities for the next stage of my life. Most of this trip has been interesting and self-motivating. However,… Continue reading Hold Me Accountable
The Un-Becoming
Am I becoming a new me or just un-becoming the old me? It’s a matter of perspective. Is the path forward after retirement a time to gather new resources and skills and roles, or is it a time to take all that I am now and edit it until I find my true self? Either… Continue reading The Un-Becoming
Looking For A Mentor
Having a model to follow is a valuable way to learn. As a teacher, I knew that telling my class something would have a limited impact. However, modelling the behaviour gave them the ability to see the idea in action and understand it better. We all need mentors in our lives to show us how… Continue reading Looking For A Mentor
The Selfishness Of Retiring, The Possibility of Volunteering
I made my decision to retire almost a year ago. At the time I gave myself an arbitrary amount of time to flounder: a year. I told myself that I would take the first year to recover, to explore and to relax. As my first year anniversary approaches, I wonder if continuing to stay retired… Continue reading The Selfishness Of Retiring, The Possibility of Volunteering
A Checklist Of Retirement Experiences
Retirement websites often distill retired life to a list of things that you can check off one-by-one.* From a tired, working person’s perspective, it’s an enticing list of wonderful possibilities. I’ve found that it over-simplifies the process of retiring. It makes retirement look like an endless holiday where you get to do all your favourite… Continue reading A Checklist Of Retirement Experiences
A Time For Learning
As a former teacher, you can understand that I have a passion for learning. However, as a retired person I was not at all sure that I wanted to start from the beginning again. Formal education was my life until now as a student, and then as a teacher. I want something different now. And… Continue reading A Time For Learning
Travel Because You Can
One of the first things people mentioned when I announcement my retirement was travel. “You’ll be able to travel and take advantage of the lower rates off-season,” they said. (As a teacher, we have to travel during peak times when it’s most expensive and most crowded.) I’ve done a fair bit of travelling over the… Continue reading Travel Because You Can
Retired, And Now What? 