Getting to grips with retirement.
I retired last October. I must admit I didn’t handle it well, I missed my colleagues and people in my care. I had worked in a Day Centre for people with learning disabilities for 23 years. I was at a loss – coming up to my 66th birthday I felt useless.
…but now I do volunteering at our local food bank and a few hours at Red Cross mobility aids.
I enjoy walking so set my self the challenge of walking 1000 miles in a year . Since 1st of Jan I’ve walked 724 miles. I am now embracing retirement have two close friends who have retired. My partner is still working as he is younger than me .
So retirement is all good and I’m looking forward to being part of senior Chatters.
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Good for you Madge, you found the trick,,,,,what trick? well I think it is to look outside yourself. This can be volunteering, it can be setting yourself a challenge as you have done. You can also learn new skills, be creative so that you look forward. Retirement is not the end of life, just the start of a different life.
Thank you I do like to set myself a challenge
Good for you, sounds like you have filled your days with things you enjoy whilst giving back to the community.
When I first retired it was the company that I missed most, I was a community midwife so always with other ladies or my colleagues.
My husband had retired before me and he couldn’t wait for me to join him, he wanted to travel so he bought a caravan and we toured a lot of France and Spain, UK in the summer months. Between November and March we did a lot of long haul travel sometimes by air, sometimes by sea made many friends along the way, some I am still in touch with, others “ships that pass in the night” we enjoyed their company at the time.
Sadly dementia stole my beloved husband so now it’s just me and my little dog, back where I started 25 years ago going to my caravan- a static one now.
Yes I think keeping in touch with people how ever distant is a good thing. and how nice you have your caravan to visit with your little pal. Very sad you lost your husband to that awful dementia so very cruel.
NEVER NEVER RETIRE it will shorten your life. This month I will be 85 years young and by keeping busy I do not have time to think about doing nothing.
I write a newspaper column as a writer since 1972. make fishing tackle for several retail stores for over 47 years, Now Striped Bass rigs, metal spreaders, and sturgeon rigs. garden a 1/2 acre area raising summer and winter squash, raise beef cattle, and chickens. Give away free, up to 2 ton of vegs, 1,000 lb beef, and several hundred dozen brown eggs. I sleep good every night with my small dog and take a morning and afternoon nap. If I sat all day in the rocking chair and on Senior Chat I would be bored to death. It also helps to never have smoked or drank in my life. Root Beer is my favorite drink and milk. I also pray to the Lord 5 times a day or more, Matt 21:22 says it all. “And all things, whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive,” I was told I had prostate cancer over 6 years ago and it was stage 4 with only a short time to live. I paid for my funeral and picked out a casket, and prayed and prayed . Told the doctors the Lord says He has healed me and have had no treatments. Doctors said do not come back to our hospital so went back to AF Hospital and they over the years can find no prostate cancer as I was healed.
Glad you have overcome cancer. positive attitude and faith has brought you through a very bad time
Madge, You seem to have adjusted to retirement and I am happy that you did. A lot of us have young grandchildren to help with and I did. You are an inspiration with your 100 miles in a year. You are doing what many do, enjoy life, you are entitled to it. You put your time in.
Kudos on the walking! Quite an achievement.
Keep up the good work!
Morning Madge – You really do seem to have beaten the biggest problem we all have to have eventually. When I faced up to the problem my niece suggested I take on Voluntary work so I took a course on Budgeting and joined the local Budget service which I did for a few years until finally I decided to start up and run a small music publishing Company – which although late in life seemed logical having been in the recording business for so long.
This ran for about 10 years – not making any money, but at least not losing either – and it kept my mind busy.
Now I just rise later in the morning, visit Chatters and Play
(very badly) my Piano – works for me as I now 88 and certainly not bored! Kind regards Drummer
thank you for all the replies very encouraging and some very interesting and amazing achievements 🙂