Wednesday, May 26, 2010

I have a friend who says, "Don't squander your time in retirement." I've been thinking about that. Here's what I did today - with 21 more work days until I leave my job.

First, I stopped feeling sorry for Larisa, my Siberian forest cat. We got her last June, and she lived indoors until last month when all of a sudden she decided to be an indoor/outdoor, indoor/outdoor, indoor/outdoor cat. She's got long hair and she can't keep up with grooming herself. And I feel guilty when I feel a mat in her coat. Like I ought to be able to fix that. So I comb a section of her every night. But I can't keep up either. So I've squandered enough time feeling guilty, and today I made an appointment for Larisa with the groomer. She's going to get a lion cut. She'll feel like velvet and she'll lose about three pounds of hair and I'll lose about 20 pounds of guilt.

Then, I cancelled my subscription to the magazine, "The Nation". It looked like a magazine I'd like, but there are about six issues in my magazine rack and I don't have the heart to throw them away, but I probably won't read them either. The layout is too dense for me, and the topic is a bit too heavy. So I let go of the guilt, called their Customer Service department, and cancelled the subscription. Several trees will sigh with relief.

Finally - and I admit this is embarassing - I harvested my Farmville grapes and didn't replant. The field is fallow. Farmville (on Facebook) is a safe place, where I have complete control over everything. But I feel guilty when I spend time on my farm. It's pure escape. And my life is interesting enough that I don't need to escape. So - at least for today - I won't be a farmer.

I'm looking at time. I'll have more freed up once I'm not working, but I'll have exactly the same number of hours in a day as I do now. I want to use it well, not squander it on guilt.

2 comments:

Anything Fits A Naked Man said...

Oh, I just love this! My favorite is the line, "My life is interesting enough that I don't need to escape." This really speaks to me, because I realize I absolutely agree that the same is true for ME! Thanks, Linda! (And, good for YOU!!)

Teresa Evangeline said...

Sounds like you have a great approach to life and to retirement. Retirement is only from the work that we give usually supporting another person's enterprise. Now, your time is yours. Sounds like you're going to have a great time and no squandering at all. And, No Guilt!