What's it like to be retired for 25 years?

It might be completely different than you think.

For me, I'm sort of okay with it.

 But, it did take me about 5 years to get used to being retired.

It started in FAll of 1998 when my cardiologist told me that I either retired or died because something was wrong with my heart. In May of 1999 they finally diagnosed what it had been, a Heart virus that usually kills most people because they panic when they pass out and this causes them to die. So, the trick of that was I couldn't panic while passing out without dying. But, because I had learned a disconnection meditation from Tibetan Buddhist Lamas I was okay with this. You have to disconnect from the part of you that panics when you pass out or you die. Very simple. So, it's a soldier like response to an impossible situation which keeps you alive through something like this.

But, it did take me about 5 years to get used to being retired. But, since my identity wasn't really tied to my career and instead to being a father and grandfather and husband, I was okay.  

What is it like being retired?

For me personally it is like if you are in grade school or high school and you have an ETERNAL Christmas and Easter and Summer Vacation that never ends!

Now, this can be good or bad but it is usually somewhere in between if you are a self starter like me.

In other words I have no problem entertaining myself whether it is walking the dog on the beach or in the forest or writing at my blog or watching the news (the news since around 2016 is just so completely bad I can no longer watch the news like I used to because it is just too horrific to watch all the time. 

Another thing that is nice about being retired is that you can often drive places when traffic isn't that bad. For example, I won't usually drive ever on Friday Afternoons or Sunday Afternoons. Instead I tend to travel on Saturdays (when everyone is already where they want to be) or (Monday through Thursdays) but not when people are driving to work or coming home. So, I just refuse mostly to drive from about 7 am to 9 AM weekdays and from 4 Pm to 6 pm weekdays unless it is some kind of an emergency.

So, this reduces your stress in amazing ways just by not being stuck in traffic for hours a week. However, I know some people love this time because they listen to music or their favorite programs. But, you can still do this at home on your radio or TV or whatever media you choose.

Also, you aren't exhausted from working all the time so anything fun you want to do you actually might have the energy to do. Or not. Remember your time is completely your own now. You can do WHATEVER you want to.

But, if people aren't self disciplined they drink or eat themselves to death within 1 to 5 years and then they are gone.

So, if you are NOT a workaholic being retired (if you have enough retirement income) might just work for you too.

By God's Grace