My journey into retirement 2

Five months along the journey, a new way of life is being established for me and I have moved on from the sense of loss I wrote about four months ago.

Life is full but less crowded

My days are still full of tasks, but they can be done at my pace and in my time rather than to deadlines set by others. Whilst I was engaged in full-time work many other tasks were pushed into the background, but these have now come to the foreground, and I am gradually tackling them in a fairly ad-hoc manner. It feels good not having to be so organised.

Easing into a new "normal"

The way I am spending my days post-retirement is now beginning to feel more normal, although this has taken some adjustment. New "normal" is much more relaxed and flexible and, although I initially needed routines to have a sense of purpose, I no longer have an urge to stick to them if I choose to do other things.

Life challenges still continue

The very nature of life ensures that challenges will occur, especially when very elderly parents and very young grandchildren are part of our lives. However I now find that I have time to process the challenges, once I have allowed myself time to react, and this is resulting in more wisdom and insight (a lot of useful thinking can occur whilst weeding the gardens or walking the two kilometres to and from the mailbox).

Needing to protect "freedom to"

Although I have mostly moved on from being conscious of "freedom from" (although a reminder is sometimes useful), I know that some people can invite me to give up my "freedom to" in order that their needs are met at the expense of mine, and I can find myself giving in without consciously realising what I am doing until it is too late. My challenge here is to learn to recognise this whilst negotiation is still possible, and this is a work in progress.

Life continues to be interesting!