Thursday, February 20, 2014

If I Were To Retire Today

Over the years, my husband and I have talked about what it would take to retire. While neither of us is even close to this stage (and we've still got multiple children to put through college), being on vacation in a place where lots of people are retired made me think a little about what I might do...
 

1. Swim every day. Not swim intensely for exercise or physical fitness--that's a not-retired way of thinking. Swim just to swim, or float, or just stand in the pool. Just because it feels good.
 

2. Do away with alarm clocks. Sleep when I want. Wake up when I feel like it.
 

3. Go out when I want. And, more importantly, stay home any time I like, because there isn't always somewhere I need to be.
 

4. Read--unencumbered by alarm clocks and places I need to be.
 

Perhaps the fact that I am beginning to rise earlier, ready to be out and have things to do, means that I have a while before I'm ready to retire. And those kids to send to college mean it will be a while before I can. But there are things about retirement that we can, perhaps, incorporate even now. We may be bound by alarm clocks and places to go, but sometimes, just sometimes, we can choose how to spend our days, a little more than we actually do. Whether for swimming or reading or just staying home when we like, we can carve out little pieces of retirement for ourselves, long before we get to retiring. And maybe, just maybe, that will make working--and coming back from vacations--just a little bit easier.

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