Retirement

Does a retiree play endless games?

Or tinker in the garden? Or volunteer for worthy causes, or travel, or what?

I was talking recently about retirement with friends who are considering doing the same thing. I have posted before on a few occasions about my own retirement. I'm not sure why I keep coming up with additional observations about it. Even after more than a year, it still feels so completely different from what I knew as "normal" life. I spent 40+ years working - it is still odd to not work anymore. Work was a large part of who and what I was. (I use the term "work" in the formal sense - performing tasks for which monetary compensation is received). It was predictable, took place at a known location, and involved set tasks. Some people can retire and don't, some people want to retire and can't - I could retire and I did.

As a retiree, my new random, unscripted life is such a departure from that scheduled existence it feels like I'm living a different life - and I am. Perhaps that's the essence of retirement - a new and different life that is created differently each day. Whether playing badminton or eating fresh garden tomatoes, or whatever - the choice is mine for when, what, and how.

Someone asked me this question, "would I go back to work in my former job if magically the opportunity appeared?" Hmmmmmm.