How are you at defining your priorities in retirement? Oh gosh, some of you say – I’ve been working hard all my life…why would I want to have priories? And you settle into the pile of books and magazines you’ve been amassing to read someday. Ah, you’ve clearly defined your priority!
Others of us jump from priority to priority never really finishing any one idea or project but having a good time while we are at it.
Long ago I learned I had a particularly good knack for starting, storing and eventually discarding projects.
When my niece was small, I decided to make her a quilt. I found some pretty sky-blue material for the background, some bright orange for the giraffe, some green for the trees behind. And I started the project. For a non-artist, it was looking pretty good. I showed my handiwork to my friends and got rave reviews. Then I hit some kind of snag. I put it down. I moved it from shelf to closet to moving box. When my niece was a teenager, I sent the still-untouched one-third-completed object to a thrift shop. No use kidding myself any longer.
Around the same decade, I drove 400 miles to take a week-long basket-weaving course to make a purse. I worked diligently on that project for the week. I was so happy with my newly learned skill, and I had plans for many other projects. Arriving home, I placed the project on the coffee table in the living room, and only moved it to dust. Life seemed to get in the way of me sitting down quietly and weaving straw. Eventually it found its esteemed unfinished place beside the giraffe quilt in the linen closet.
Risto
Since retirement I have designed a series of murder mysteries to be written, and a how-to book on retirement. I work diligently on them and then, to quote my mentor, Samantha Bennett, I notice sparkly breadcrumbs leading me off on a new adventure.
My bestie retired from nursing and took all the courses to be a personal trainer. She even set up a gym in her basement. She designed the marketing. And then she announced, I don’t want to do this. Now she uses the gym for family only. She’s happy with her decision.
There are many things I’ve finished, that were truly me and truly enjoyable. In my working life there were things I had to do but never enjoyed. We are now at the age of not having to do things for an employer, a parent, a child, or an esteemed place in the community.
Don’t be afraid to try new things and, equally important, don’t hesitate to let them go if they don’t fit or you realize doing it is more work than fun or feeling good.
Do the crossword until you tire of it, watch the movie until you remember the book you are reading. Plan dinner until you remember the takeout restaurant. Spend more time with your plants than your dust bunnies. Take a course just for the sake of learning, not because you need to do something specific with it. Do what you enjoy for as long as you want – but no longer than that!
If you follow sparkly breadcrumbs…dance while you do, but don’t worry about the steps someone else made up. Instead, use your own un-choreographed and spontaneous jig! Now, if you will excuse me, I must get to work on one of those murder mysteries I started years ago….
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Laurie Mueller, M.Ed is retired and living in Victoria with her husband, Helmuth. She recently published The Ultimate Guide on What to Do When Someone You Love Dies, available on Amazon. More about Laurie can be found at www.lauriemconsulting.com or on Facebook.