Retirement...One Year Later

I retired a little over a year after Andy retired.  Recently, after we finished one of our presentations on “Make Retirement...Work,” he asked me how I was enjoying retirement.   He had told me several times during the first several months of his retirement (and well after we published our book), that retirement was highly UNDERrated.  I always got a kick out of hearing that characterization.  But, now that I have been retired just a few weeks shy of one year, I have come to agree with him.  The sheer freedom that retirement affords is unparalleled.  Even the vacations that some of us took during our working years do not really compare.  For many of us, even though we closed the door on our work for 2 or 3 weeks at a time, the responsibility we carried never really went away.

Indeed, in my case, while I miss some of the people and some of the social interaction my working years provided, I must confess that I do not miss the grind. In fact, it wasn’t until I was several months into my retirement that I noted a layer of incessant pressure having lifted.  Like so many others, I suppose I just got accustomed to it.  Having to be “on” all the time, ready for any complaint, controversy, or crisis that was inherent in my job became a major aspect of my job without me ever really realizing it. Now that is gone.  Now, I am only left to wonder how much of a toll it takes on us--invisible and insidious as it may be.

I don't miss it.

Nonetheless, all of this provides a real, actual, and vivid contrast to some of the principal differences between work and retirement.  And the wisest among us will use this context to navigate their way to fulfilling retirement years with purpose and meaning.

Rick Hearin