ForumGarden

Hi there Jack.



I'm not retired. I work and go to college, both full-time so I am pretty busy. Although I'm looking forward to the day when I don't have to manage both and can have additional leisure time, I'm also worried about it. When you work that hard for that long and suddenly you stop...what are you supposed to do with yourself?



I guess I'm saying that even though I'm not in your position, I can relate to how you might be feeling.

Jack Sprat wrote: It has paid off for me, but would not for many. I was a teacher and thus have good retirement benefits. I will never have to work again. The biggest problem was learning to relax. Have to tell myself that the small things no longer matter. :rolleyes:
I'm glad that you don't have money worries. Teaching is an extremely hard job, and so crucial. You deserve to have some fun after a life spent helping others to understand and appreciate the world around them.



The small things no longer matter - man, that's a hard one to learn. I put away a lot of the small stuff only because I don't have time to dwell on it. Just imagine all the years of needless angst I'm depriving myself of. LOL



I guess this where our hobbies and dreams come into play. You mentioned gardening, which I love as well. I feel lucky to have things I am interested in like knitting, sewing, reading, hiking, and water sports. I daydream about having time to do things like volunteering to work with dogs, and traveling.



But then I get tense considering it...and remind myself I have a career ahead of me yet that will require many hours. Isn't that funny?



I admire your tutoring people, and hope that you find your retirement days to be fulfilling. What dreams do you have that you'd like to pursue at this point?

Sophie, wow!! What a beautiful story

I am very happy in retirement and if I had known that it would be this much fun, I would have tried to retire earlier than age 57. Remember recess when you were a kid, and how you hated to hear the bell ring because you were having so much fun?

Well, the bells not ringing any more. We are fortunate to have both good health and the financial resources to travel extensively and enjoy our varied interests. Living for half the year abroad these past 11 years has been a fantastic experience.

Jack Sprat wrote: >> its just not what its cracked up to be especially if you have noone to share life with, so retirement .......sux.

Understood. My son is 38 and single. He travels and comes back somewhat unfulfilled. He frequently goes to restaurants and the movies by himself. Personally I believe it makes no difference whether you're retired or still working: sharing makes all activities more meaningful.


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Having recently retired (earlier this year) I have found it necessary to keep occupied with some kind of physical & mental activity. Since my wife has a small local accupuncture practice, we need to stay around this area. Since I am not one for spending a lot of time on things like golf , gardening or such things, I find that what I need is some kind of part time work that will provide some balance to the day and some sense of accomplishment. I feel that retirement for me needs to be a work in progress. You both seem to have a lot more experience at it so I would be open to suggestions.

Hopalong

Have noticed the men on this forum are career people. If you worked all your life outdoors you would like to hunt? Grow a garden, keep your mowers in good condition, rebuild a stone wall? My father-in-law has been retired for at least 14 years, and is healthy and busy, at least trying to keep busy. He doesn' t know what word processor is either.

Your accomplishments are healthy, its nice not to worry about our children, thats a good thing, and to spend time with your father will be rewarding to you someday. We have so much to be thankful for.

Hi Jack, your post on retirement has me worried somewhat. Teaching is a wonderful profession, and all teachers should be commended. Unfortunately I am not a teacher, just an Aircraft Design Engineering manager. But part of my job however does require me to mentor and coach my young Design Engineers. And that proves rewarding for me when I teach them the "real-world" of engineering. Here's the worry part, I am scheduled to retire the end of January next year, (after 45 years working) and I am worried about all the things you mentioned in your post and all the other reply posts you received. It's like you all were reading my mind. Will I be happy when retired, won't know that until I'm there. Once there, I can't (won't be able to) go back to where I was. Nothing ever stays the same, except "change" itself. :-3

I just got to make it to retirement, and I will be as happy as a lark..!!

I plan on working some. At a certain point in life, trying to keep up with the young kids at work, is impossible. I pretty much run rings around them still. But you what I don't want to keep this pace up much longer.

I WANT TO STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES..!@! TRAVEL AGAIN, READ LOTS OF BOOKS AGAIN..!! OH HECK I'M GOING TO RETIRE ON MONDAY..!!A :wah:

I retired due to illnes at 55 years two years ago.It took ages to accept my illness (Dystonia) at first and then to think what I was going to do about it. I sat in the shade and was not interested in venturing outside. The thought of saying to people I'm retired or I had an illness scared me to the bone. I'm for the scrap heap ect. Who wants an old Buzzard.

I joinedFG and reading through the many many posts here over the last while has opened my eyes.

Today life is good. I'm getting out more. Meeting new friends. I'm doing something.

Today I am grateful for the gift to be alive and I shall live it creatively.

CARLA wrote: I just got to make it to retirement, and I will be as happy as a lark..!!

I plan on working some. At a certain point in life, trying to keep up with the young kids at work, is impossible. I pretty much run rings around them still. But you what I don't want to keep this pace up much longer.

I WANT TO STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES..!@! TRAVEL AGAIN, READ LOTS OF BOOKS AGAIN..!! OH HECK I'M GOING TO RETIRE ON MONDAY..!!A :wah:
Carla! you are retiring?? oh my gosh, you will be missed so dearly! you do such wonderful work for alzheimer's patients. you deserve a happy and relaxed retirement, and i have lots of books to share when you run out...hey, come on out to florida, we'll have some oysters and beer! :-6 i love you dearest, happy retirement. :-4

JAck,

I, too, am a retired teacher. The biggest adjustment was not being around people all the time. We travel quite a lot but also I volunteer at the Public library. That way I DO see people, lots of kids and often some of my former students (I feel a llittle vindicated as I was a High Schoo Sp. Ed. teacher).

The adjustment was 24 hour togetherness with my spouse. Volunteering takes care of that, and incidently, earned us a new circle of friends that we may not have met otherwise.

I know that volunteering is pushed a lot to the retired set. The clue is to volunteer at something you like to do. If you're a gardener, surely the parks department in your city could use some help. And libraries always need volunteers....good for those long winter months.

Enjoy your retirement....you earned it!

I'm sure we have more retired or perhaps people getting ready to retire in say, five years. Come along and join the FG Active Seniors. :driving: Going places.

I have recently retired like 4 weeks ago. I love it, but it is a big adjustment. I didn't realize how lonely i am some days, when my hubby is working. I was use to working. i retired after 20 yrs on the job. I have so much free time, sometimes i have things to do, and other days just nil, but i wouldnt have it any other way. it

feels nice to know if i don't want to do anything i dont have to. people tell me after awhile i will get adjusted to this, as its a big change. I intend to join up the community center, where i can exercise and swim. also thinking about takeing a course at a local college. Have many projects to complete on our house. so hang in there, it does get better. the idea of retirement is to take it easy and not work like you did.

WELCOME countrylane123 sounds like you will enjoy your retirement. I hope to enjoy mine as well just have to work another 7 years...:-5 I wish I could retire now but I can't. Hope you enjoy yourself in the Garden, lots of great people here.:-6

thank you carla for your nice response. hopefully 7 yrs will go so fast and you will be retiring.

welcome to fg country lane......hope you enjoy your stay here......:-6



the resident pond fish



gup

i don't work outside the house so i can't retire! dh is going to retire in about 7 years. we've always enjoyed camping in our motorhome. At the moment we're looking for a new one; hopefully to enjoy for a good long time. I think i'll be busier when my dh retires so i better rest now lol!

when i was taking care of my dad all i could think of was, i need a rest!! now that he's gone i feel like i'm accomplishing nothing. this must be that retired unaccomplished feeling you're talking about. i was constantly busy as he had alzheimers and demanded most of my time. that lasted little over 4 years, i loved being able to care for him and of course miss him.



how does one stop worrying about their grown kids?? i really wish i could just relax and let happen whatever is going to. i'm a worry wort i guess.

i enjoyed reading all your posts!!

no not in the least i am sad..and on the verge of mad...:-5

guppy;668225 wrote: no not in the least i am sad..and on the verge of mad...:-5


sorry to hear that guppy





i'm going to cheer you up by going on your forum and annoy you ,then you can ban me





nothing like a good jimbo ass whooping to make a girl feel better:)

oh great..make me cry now..that is what i got me in trouble to begin with this morning..letting my emotions get away from me..i wouldnt ban you jimbo...i actually tried ot ban myself but the damn board wouldnt comply...so now i am over here...:-5

you couldnt annoy me if you tried..there is a list a mile long ahead of you...:p

guppy;668248 wrote: oh great..make me cry now..that is what i got me in trouble to begin with this morning..letting my emotions get away from me..i wouldnt ban you jimbo...i actually tried ot ban myself but the damn board wouldnt comply...so now i am over here...:-5




ok if you wont ban me make me a mod in fact king mod then any one not having a laugh will get banned pronto that should cheer the place up :wah::wah:

[quote=jimbo;668258]ok if you wont ban me make me a mod in fact king mod then any one not having a laugh will get banned pronto that should cheer the place



:wah:that would make me laugh too...you are welcome to go over there and play...... at your own risk...:-3i will have the band aides and the first aide kit at the ready just in case.... i am only missing my tail and both fins;)

guppy;668268 wrote: [quote=jimbo;668258]ok if you wont ban me make me a mod in fact king mod then any one not having a laugh will get banned pronto that should cheer the place



that would make me laugh too...you are welcome to go over there and play...... at your own risk...i will have the band aides and the first aide kit at the ready just in case.... i am only missing my tail and both fins;)




great as your forum is .. i dont think its for jimbo , i like the nicey nicey feel about fg .. i know who i'm talking to and i've been friends with a lot of you guys for a long time .. and there are people (this means you too guppy) that i care about and i'm not judged by how bad my spelling is or how much of a moron i am i'm just jimbo stupid but nice and i kinda like that ... besides if any one wants to talk to me they know i cant work other forums i'm just stuck right here :wah::wah:

jimbo;668281 wrote: [quote=guppy;668268]





great as your forum is .. i dont think its for jimbo , i like the nicey nicey feel about fg .. i know who i'm talking to and i've been friends with a lot of you guys for a long time .. and there are people (this means you too guppy) that i care about and i'm not judged by how bad my spelling is or how much of a moron i am i'm just jimbo stupid but nice and i kinda like that ... besides if any one wants to talk to me they know i cant work other forums i'm just stuck right here :wah::wah:


oh my...i like nicey nicey too. and the ability to not be perfect

emzee;668222 wrote: i don't work outside the house so i can't retire! dh is going to retire in about 7 years. we've always enjoyed camping in our motorhome. At the moment we're looking for a new one; hopefully to enjoy for a good long time. I think i'll be busier when my dh retires so i better rest now lol!



when i was taking care of my dad all i could think of was, i need a rest!! now that he's gone i feel like i'm accomplishing nothing. this must be that retired unaccomplished feeling you're talking about. i was constantly busy as he had alzheimers and demanded most of my time. that lasted little over 4 years, i loved being able to care for him and of course miss him.





how does one stop worrying about their grown kids?? i really wish i could just relax and let happen whatever is going to. i'm a worry wort i guess.



i enjoyed reading all your posts!!
hi emzee, nice to meet you.



define happy! happy can be, and is most likely different from one person to another! anyone's "happy" feeling surely will not be/last 24/7/365!!! it seems that you sometimes can make your own happy feelings, by just looking for the happy things that are out there, and not focusing on the not so happy ones!

i retired 2-1/2 years ago, and am "happy" now! but i must tell you for many months "before" retiring i was scared sh*tless to retire, and was making myself sick! as it was the "unknown" that i guess is what scared me! since during all my 44 year working life, everything was structured, scheduled, timed, productive, results orientated, and having to deal with pulling the plug (myself, it would have been easier if someone made that decision for me) on a prominent high powered position was driving me crazy! friday, i'm the high powered boss, then retire, and monday i'm just john q. public, where no one knows me! it took some time to adjust, but now i love it, and i believe i'm truly happy!!



taking care of your dad as you did, shows what a wonderful person you really are! i'm sure there were times when some little thing he did made you both smile! (happy)

as for worring about the grown kids, sorry to say, that never ends no matter how old they get! we have 4 grown "kids", and still worry about them too much, of that i'm sure.

the motor home sounds interesting. the closest thing we ever got to that was, somewhere i think it was in pennsynvania, they had like 40 foot long trailer homes, that they rented out like a motel room. it was great fun for us, we enjoyed it!

so look forward towards retirement, it is great, with every day being saturday and sunday! no work, no schedules, no bosses, just happy days to do whatever you feel like! enjoy!!!:)

hope you have a better day today!!:-6

I'm due to retire on 31st August and a friend suggested I try ForumGarden as there must be others who have experienced this feeling of cautious anticipation.

My husband retired some years ago and I gave up work to share our retirement dreams of travelling to visit friends in the four corners of the world. We had a wonderful time for a couple of years, when he was diagnosed with an untreatable neurological illness. He died a few years later.

Returning to work provided good occupational therapy at the time, but now it is my turn to retire. It's time, I'm ready to retire, but then what?

Have you been there?

emzee;670014 wrote: hope You Have A Better Day Today!!:-6




Also Me!!!!!!

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