Retirement

I am a naturally contemplative person. I like to think deeply about things and am always full of ideas. However, since I watched my father by a workaholic I am not that because I didn't get to spend much time with my father unless I was working with him on a job when I was 12 to 17 years of age or after he had retired. So, I made sure to spend more time with my kids than my father did with me from zero to 12 especially.

A person like me often does okay in retirement because I am always thinking of new things to do and writing here at a blog is a good discipline and keeps my mind active when I'm not traveling to new or old places I like alone or with my wife and family and friends.

But, retirement is not for everyone. Even for me, it took about 2 to 5 years to adjust to retirement and I would recommend even those suited to retirement to retire early enough so the change doesn't just kill you within 5 years or so.

When I was dying from my heart virus for about 8 months (or so I thought then) I didn't even know what was wrong with my heart because even the doctors couldn't figure it out then until it was all over. So, because a heart virus isn't easily diagnosed it is why most people who get it die from it before it is diagnosed. But, you have a 1 in 1000 chance of getting a heart virus every time you get your teeth cleaned and for most people a heart virus was fatal in the 1990s (1998 and 1999) when I had one. So, I was forced to retire at 50. Luckily I was able to afford to do this. But what was strange for me was that I had expected to have to work until I died like most people do. So, I was surprised when retiring worked out okay for me.

So, waiting until you are 70 or 75 to retire for example, might just be the end of you because you emotionally might not be able to adjust to being retired. However, most people who live until 90 or more I notice still work part time at something. It's important to have something to keep busy at.

It might be helpful to still own a business that leaves the hardest decisions to you even when you are retired for example. Or you could start a business part time as much to have something to do as to make money and to talk to people.

For me, it can be simple like bringing in the garbage or emptying the dish washer or weed eating the yard when stuff grows up too tall or watering roses or strawberries or comfrey and things like this. It can be getting on my motorcycle and riding along the beach on a beautiful day. It can be getting up in the morning and driving to Mount Shasta where I have friends that will ski with me cross country or downhill in season. It might be getting together with friends and flying to Hawaii on a winter snorkling trip like last year before my burst appendix in March and April.

So, anything you are doing is helpful in keeping your mind and body healthy. Another thing I do almost every day when I'm home is I walk the dogs in the forest or along the beach since I live within 1 mile of the ocean here in Northern California.

What is retirement like?

People ask this a lot.

It is like going on summer vacation when you are in grade school or high school only it never ends even though winter break. It never ends. So, if you don't have anything to do or don't make things to do then you might just get drunk and stay drunk until you die or something like that. This is what some people do. However, I'm not a drinker so this isn't a problem for me because neither of my parents drank or smoked so I don't either because they were ministers while I was growing up.