Life was pretty intense before retirement; running a business, maintaining our home and raising our child took a lot of energy and created a lot of stress. Our days had purpose but they rarely felt balanced. The highs and lows were extreme, with periods of calm in between. It was like listening to a heavy metal movie score, with occasional soft strings thrown in to slow the pace and calm the mood.
Our accomplishments are gratifying to look back on, but being retired feels like the best possible reward. Life is joyful and unhurried – more like elevator music.
A typical week includes household maintenance, social time, exercise, hobbies, volunteer work, we time and me time. We stay motivated and energized by always having something to look forward to. Our retirement life is predictable, but never stale or boring.
It sounds cliche, but retirement is about living your best life. We believe we are there right now and are eternally grateful for good health and the resources to live the life we choose. How about you? Have you achieved balance in your retirement life?
Picture Retirement 
It’s hard looking back on the nine to five life and not think “how did I do it?”
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Isn’t that the truth!
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True words!!
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One of the very best things about retirement is not having to set an alarm or even wear a watch if you don’t want to. 🙂 When I was working I had stress 24/7 because I was always on call because of my position. I do have to admit I don’t do stress well anymore so I try to avoid it at all turns. 🙂
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Judy, leisurely is the way to go. At this stage of life, I think we have all earned a little peace and quiet!
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I think that I’m finding a balance too. I can’t imagine ever returning to the rat race.
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Janis, after a while, it just feels right. You seem to have lots of hobbies and interests, and of course your hubby there for you. Glad you are on your way to finding your version of balanced living.
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Yep! It’s definitely nice to wake up when l want. It took me just over 3 years to feel finally decompressed. After so many year in the chain drug store, I still hate the phone till today and don’t answer it, just use it to play Words etc. :-). Sounds like you have found your rhythm. Good, good , good!
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Kemkem, I can imagine how annoying the phone must be to you. Your work was demanding and stressful, so I don’t doubt it took three years to decompress. But, you are there now and living your best life!
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hmmm – I’m not sure I’ve found balance. I’m not even sure I know what that means for me.
I have so many things going on, I rarely seem to enough time to do everything I would like to do. After all those working years and long hours, I feel like I’m trying to cram a lifetime of fun into this chapter of my life. I guess that’s not such a bad problem to have 🙂
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Joanne, if you are doing anything stressful at this stage of the game, let it go. Being busy is wonderful, but being purposeful is so much better. BTW, you are the poster child for how to do retirement!
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Thanks Suzanne, I appreciate that 🙂
I’m trying to get better at understanding the ‘why’ of the things I’m doing.
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