Sitting On The Edge Of My Bed

I watched a YouTube video today. An elderly man was talking about being retired. I felt sad as he tried to discuss the emotional ins and outs of being retired…mostly the outs. He was widowed and alone and not interested in a new relationship. He had retired early to take care of his mother. Now she was gone. His friends had moved on, in one way or another. Now it was just him.

He spoke of the freedom to wake up when he wants to. Obviously he has not pets. But he also relates how he will sit on the edge of his bed and wonder what he will do that day.

When you enter a new lifetime, such as retirement, you need to have a plan, or plans, both long-term and short-term. Wandering through your home, all alone, day after day, will turn you into a very sad person, just as my YouTube friend is sad. Don’t let that be you.

If you sit in your house, and feel alone or worried, devise a plan. It could be a fun plan or a serious plan. In order to execute, it could involve others or just yourself. It could take an hour or a day or it could be a three-year plan. I say three years because, honestly, you are retired which means you are physically and mentally on borrowed time. Start planning now instead of wondering why you should even get out of bed.

What you plan might never happen. Plans could change or you could choose a different path. What is most important is the planning itself. You can open up a world you may have been hiding from. You could be missing out on a new learning experience you could be enjoying.

My friend, Jenine, recently gave me a book by author, Jon Kabat-Zinn. I have not read the book (yet) but the title is something I have used in my life many times. I have a feeling that he will be talking about finding peace with yourself but, in my life, I take the title words, “Wherever You Go, There You Are” to mean that you are where you are emotionally because that is where you go to. If you sit on the edge of your bed with no plan for the day, then your day will be filled with nothing.

Most of us, at my age, have physical limitations that preclude us from going skydiving or bungee jumping. So what? There are a zillion other things we can do. And even more we can plan for. The important thing is that YOU DO YOU!

Just make sure that you DO.