Originally Posted by
JanP
Before I retired 5 1/2 years ago, I asked a former colleague who'd retired a year earlier what it was like. What she said just shocked me to my core: "If there's something I need or want to do and then decide I really don't want to, I just put it off till tomorrow." What?? As you know, when you're working, every minute is scheduled, all your errands are mapped out, all your chores in a list to be marked off, all your "free" time preciously doled out. W E L L, it turns out, I quickly adjusted to the "do it when you feel like it" way of doing things. I still get 'er done, but the stress is gone! And, I'm never, ever bored.
My daughters are 33 & 35. The older one has two kids, 11 months apart and the oldest one is 16 months. She just started back to work a month ago after having been laid off two months before the first baby was born. My younger daughter has two boys, 4 & 1, and she works as a critical care nurse, and she works 12 hour days, plus she's working on her masters.
Both of their lives are hectic, and I remember going through all of that. I remember having long, long days and the hectic times of meals, baths, bedtime stories, and waking up to do it all over again.
I love being able to relax and do nothing if I don't want to.