We had a little group meeting at work a few days ago where they gave us an update on what is going on and what is planned and so on. I started with this outfit when the group was pretty small and last year they were just a few million short of a billion dollars in earnings so we have been pretty successful and I have had my part in it and have been rewarded and that is great that have been and continue to be good to me and now I am in a support job which is fine and I’m thinking about retiring in the next year or so.
But a funny thing happened. I got into what the future plans were and thinking, I can’t leave now. I want to see what happens and I want to be a part of it! And then the IT guy got up and started talking about all the software tools and upgrades we are going to get. So it was like, wow, I want to see that also.
But then I realized that there is always going to be new things going on and there will always be new tools to use and that is great but I don’t want to be hauled out of work feet first, so to speak so it is going to be others taking up the challenge and I’ll be off doing something else.
I read a poem recently by Mary Oliver called Storage where she writes about moving from a bigger house to a smaller house and putting some of her treasures in a storage unit and then a few years later she hires a guy to haul it all off because they were no longer treasures to her and the poem closes with:
“…Things,
Burn them, burn them! Make a beautiful
fire! More room in your heart for love,
for the trees! For the birds who own
nothing – the reason they can fly.”
So I need to make room for other things besides business plans and tools. Things like spending more time with my wife, reading more books, riding my bike more, taking lots more yoga classes, staying up late, getting up late, lingering over coffee, seeing more movies and not giving a second thought about what I left behind except to make sure the pension checks don’t bounce.
Beautiful poem and so appropriate. I think you’ll love retirement, but taking that big leap is difficult.
We don’t have birds like that here, they have such big beaks.
The poem resonates with my ongoing desire to downsize. We have reached another iconic life marker, times for change.
My Yogi friend – as someone who just celebrated her second year of retirement, I can tell you it is better than I ever imagined – and I have a pretty good imagination! Your list of retirement “to dos” is just the ticket, and believe me when I tell you that you will keep adding to the list and wonder why there aren’t more hours in the day to do all that you dream!
That is one handsome dove. I don’t think I have ever seen one colored like that. Nice work Yogi.
Okay, I’m back. I am about to celebrate the sixth anniversary of my retirement and I must say, while I miss most of the people and the creative process, I don’t miss the travel component nor the deadlines always lingering. Photography has given me a creative outlet and one really good trip each year satisfies my need for travel. My wife and I do things together and apart. I can set a deadline and miss it if I choose. And lingering over the morning coffee just might be the best part. You have plenty of interests that will occupy your day and I know you will adjust to the new pace whenever you decide that it is time to let the next generation move the company forward while you slip into something more comfortable…called retirement.