Are busy people happier in retirement? Does keeping busy create good feelings? Does keeping busy give purpose and meaning to every day? Most retired people are admonished to ‘take it easy’. We are told to relax and ‘smell the roses’. Yet, for many, idleness creates boredom. If you, like me, learned to regard busyness as […]
Time for you
A busy life is not a happy life
“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” — Socrates A busy life is too often seen as a badge of honour. Everyone is constantly busy. Schedules are overloaded. People rush from one thing to another while often accomplishing little or nothing during a day. Life is busy yet it feels empty and unproductive. My threshold […]
Too Many Commitments
Is your retirement happiness compromised by too many commitments? Is your daily/weekly schedule overloaded? Are you stressed out with too little time to smell the roses? Do you have time for goofing off or doing nothing? Too many retired people say they are busier than ever. As a result, they find themselves overwhelmed because a […]
Personal Rituals to Stay on Track
Personal rituals help us stay on track and increase retirement happiness. One of my favourite books, From Beginning to End — The Rituals of our Lives, by Robert Fulghum explores both public and private rituals that define the patterns of our lives. I have read and re-read sections of the book during different stages of my […]
Husband Away — Time for solitude
My husband’s away and it’s time for solitude. Postworksavvy readers know that my husband does an annual junket to Trinidad and Tobago to celebrate Carnival and to visit family and friends. I’ve been there, done that. In over 45 years of marriage, I’ve visited his country many times and don’t feel a need to keep returning. […]
Retirement Happiness — How to Keep the Spirit of Christmas
Christmas is over. Rather than rushing to the Boxing Day sales, I’ve spent a couple of days sitting quietly and pondering how to keep the spirit of Christmas in my heart. These are slow days at our house. There is no cooking. The kitchen is closed — except for the fridge and the pantry where […]
Retirement Happiness requires time and effort
The great things in life always take time and never come without effort and patience. A successful retirement journey needs planning, work and periodic adjustments. Retirement happiness won’t happen without some forethought. During the summer while hanging out at the cottage, I thought about how I felt about my retirement three years ago. Although I […]
Happiness in Retirement — Summer After Labour Day
Summer after Labour Day offers at least three weeks of the season without all the pressure of barbecues, parties, festivals, and sun tanning on the beach. As I walked the beach this week, it felt like I could re-claim it. Most of the tourists and summer people are gone. The beach is empty. I have […]
21 Days Without my Husband — Welcoming him home
Day 21 — It’s time to welcome him home. Tonight I’ll make the airport trek to pick up my husband after his annual vacation to visit family and friends in Trinidad, his home country. I’m excited. After three weeks of cooking for one or, mostly, avoiding any cooking, I have re-stocked the refrigerator. I’ve also […]
21 Days Without my Husband — Messing Around and Being Alone
Day 19 — It’s been a week of informal ‘messing around’ and being alone — having fun with others and relaxing while alone. During the past few days I have amused myself with activities and diversions of my choice. On Monday I realized that this was the last full week that I would be home […]