I’m so very glad that I am no longer expected to be present at a job during prescribed hours! Retirement is a dandy place to be—I can go shopping, visit a museum, see a movie, stay home and bake or create another way—any time I want. It’s simply fabulous!
Retirement also gives me the freedom to simply be. There doesn’t need to be any doing, especially when my body, sometimes forcibly, says “now you will rest”. There are no doctor’s permission slips, no explaining to a boss why I can’t work today; I am only answerable to myself.
These days, I’m nursing bursitis in my hip, alongside the “normal” woes of an aging body. I am very fortunate to be able to do just that—to rest and repair. I’ll continue to do so, while seeing to the commitments I’ve made.
It seems that I still push myself beyond my limits, which is good in an athlete or a scholar, but not so much for me. What I’m learning, more forcefully as time marches on, is to pace myself, and to give in gracefully to the need to rest. I’m not saying that I intend to just fold up and give in, but rather to go with the flow of what is presented to me. I want to remember to ask myself how, given how well I’m functioning, I can continue to grow and learn and give of myself.
It’s a changeable thing, but one where I get to say “when”.
That’s where I feel gratitude today; in the freedom to simply feel what I feel, and to know that all is well.
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