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Living in the moment
Old 03-29-2017, 11:06 AM   #1
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Living in the moment

I'm retiring fall of 2019, still about 2.5 years away, but I'm obsessed - I can't stop thinking about it and counting down the days. And my job isn't even that bad. Any advice for how to get out of this obsessive mentality? I really want to enjoy every moment of my life and not waste time and energy wishing I could fast forward into the future (however nice that future sounds).
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Old 03-29-2017, 11:13 AM   #2
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I'm retiring fall of 2019, still about 2.5 years away, but I'm obsessed - I can't stop thinking about it and counting down the days. And my job isn't even that bad. Any advice for how to get out of this obsessive mentality? I really want to enjoy every moment of my life and not waste time and energy wishing I could fast forward into the future (however nice that future sounds).
Me too.
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Old 03-29-2017, 12:36 PM   #3
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Me too!
My obsession started at about 2.5 years. We are now at right at 1 year.
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Old 03-29-2017, 12:55 PM   #4
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Believe me, the time will go by faster than you think. I started a retirement countdown on my phone at 1000 days.
I ran all the financial calculators I could find, started reading book after book.
The one book that slowed me down and had me really thinking day to day about what I wanted my life to be was Ernie Zelinski "How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free". His Get a Life Tree is a wonderful eyeopening, thought provoking approach that had me stop thinking about "retiring" and more focus about what I wanted the rest of my life to look like.
My last year had ups and downs, but really did go by quickly. You will get there!
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Old 03-29-2017, 01:32 PM   #5
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Not the 1st time a poster talks about this. I think you have to stay off this forum. Else, seeing retirees talk of goofing around all day or taking naps at noon will drive you nuts.
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Old 03-29-2017, 01:38 PM   #6
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Me too!
My obsession started at about 2.5 years. We are now at right at 1 year.
I could have written this. In fact, I think I will.

My obsession started at about 2.5 years. We are now right at 1 year.
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Old 03-29-2017, 01:42 PM   #7
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Not the 1st time a poster talks about this. I think you have to stay off this forum. Else, seeing retirees talk of goofing around all day or taking naps at noon will drive you nuts.


Boy, that was a great nap today!
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Old 03-29-2017, 01:43 PM   #8
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I'm 74 1/2, my obsession with quitting work started 60 1/2 years ago.......I called it my "31.5 Step Program" and stopped all this work nonsense age 46.

Please buy my book.
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Old 03-29-2017, 01:52 PM   #9
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I never let myself think about retirement until 6 months. I mean it was very hard.
But retirement isn't all about taking naps, but you could be out there cutting roses and have lots of scratches from the roses. It can be painful. Retirement isn't always a bed of roses so to speak.
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Old 03-29-2017, 01:59 PM   #10
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But the fact that you can take a nap after trimming your roses if you want to is a big deal. You may choose to not nap and spend time surfing the Web and BS'ing here on this forum. It's your choice.

You cannot do the above after a tedious meeting at work. You have to go back to your desk, and even if you are tired, pretend to work.
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Old 03-29-2017, 02:08 PM   #11
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My countdown has 2 days left! Of course I have been thinking about it, but the time did not really start to slow up on me until a month or two ago. Over the last 5 years DW and I started taking much nicer, bigger, longer vacations and that helped.
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Old 03-29-2017, 02:08 PM   #12
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But the fact that you can take a nap after trimming your roses if you want to is a big deal. You may choose to not nap and spend time surfing the Web and BS'ing here on this forum. It's your choice.

You cannot do the above after a tedious meeting at work. You have to go back to your desk, and even if you are tired, pretend to work.
I do all the above at work except trimming my roses.
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Old 03-29-2017, 02:12 PM   #13
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Bad, very bad.

PS. I recall now at megacorp, on Friday workers tended to go out together for lunch outside the campus. When they went back to work, the Internet was slow like heck. They were surfin'.
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Old 03-29-2017, 02:33 PM   #14
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One foot in front of the other. That was my mantra for the last 2-3 years at work (I was in a perpetual OMY for that time). It did seem interminable, but focusing on short term goals helped.
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Old 03-29-2017, 03:44 PM   #15
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Bad, very bad.

PS. I recall now at megacorp, on Friday workers tended to go out together for lunch outside the campus. When they went back to work, the Internet was slow like heck. They were surfin'.
I've been napping at work since my first job in college. It's called work smarter not harder.
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Old 03-29-2017, 03:49 PM   #16
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Totally agree.

Management was the problem, as they did not think so. Or they said "smart + hard > smart or hard alone".
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Old 03-29-2017, 03:55 PM   #17
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I'm retiring fall of 2019, still about 2.5 years away, but I'm obsessed - I can't stop thinking about it and counting down the days. And my job isn't even that bad. Any advice for how to get out of this obsessive mentality? I really want to enjoy every moment of my life and not waste time and energy wishing I could fast forward into the future (however nice that future sounds).
Read a little of this every day and you'll be fine: Eckhart Tolle: The Power of Now
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Old 03-29-2017, 04:01 PM   #18
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I'm retiring fall of 2019, still about 2.5 years away, but I'm obsessed - I can't stop thinking about it and counting down the days. And my job isn't even that bad. Any advice for how to get out of this obsessive mentality? I really want to enjoy every moment of my life and not waste time and energy wishing I could fast forward into the future (however nice that future sounds).
I found that reading this site was a way to "fast forward" by seeing how others were enjoying the retired life. I did not join until close to retirement, but probably viewed for 5 years prior.

We also started taking more frequent and elaborate vacations, while still working. No more days of cancelling a vacation because of a client, or burning the days at the end of the year. Someone else COULD handle the client, and they would HAVE to when I leave. I let them practice while I could still jump in later, if needed.
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Old 03-29-2017, 04:14 PM   #19
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Hey, I just realized four years ago today was my last day of work!
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Old 03-29-2017, 04:24 PM   #20
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Stop "counting the days, hours, seconds, etc" It will just make it seem longer. Spend more time and more mobey now, doing things you think you will do in retirement. .
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