I taught at the local university for 37 years and I wondered how I would do in retirement. I scheduled a session with a counselor about the switch I was facing and another session that included my wife, since we would be spending more time together. Those sessions went well and so have the years of retirement.
A young professional woman said to me that "every day was Saturday" for me, meaning that I had no responsibilities. It is true that I don't report to work five days a week but I have many responsibilities. Part of the evidence for them is the mutual use that Lynn and I make of Google Calendar. We like that app since we can access it in many ways and on all our equipment. We both use it and it is our source for knowing about events, especially one-time occasions that we might miss. We didn't make much use of calendar notes while working since many of our days followed a pattern.
I can tell you that people are not very competent at imagining wonderful situations. When they think of heavenly arrangements, they cannot think of all the extra details. Besides, in general, we don't know ourselves or our lives in enough detail to know what we tend to do and what gives us a lift. Often, we get a shot of happiness from some unexpected event. It can be seeing a smile that we didn't expect to see. It can be anticipation of something promising. Remember that you and I are animals, creatures that enjoy motion, enough rest and enough variety. For a person that prepared lessons and presentations for 5 days a week, an organization such as UWSP's learning in retirement organization, L.I.F.E. gave enough activity and mental stimulation, both as a presenter and an audience member, that it has been an important source of knowledge, friendships and stimulation. Similarly, Road Scholar (formerly called Elderhostel) has offered some fun trips and new friends and contacts.
I compose my blog posts in Google Docs and its grammar/spell checker is excellent. After running the checker, I like to read my post aloud to Lynn to see her reaction and maybe catch a few writing problems. I just read this post to her up to this paragraph and she said she was surprised at how her life seemed much the same before and after she had a chance to get accustomed to marriage. That surprised her but it is clear that life is living plus as she said, "wherever I go, there I am".
