Timeisprecious
Recycles dryer sheets
A while back on this website, someone wrote to me, “Wow, a double whammy – you’re beginning retirement AND leaving the military … both at the same time! We’d really like you to stick around and maybe a year from now, let us know how the adjustment is going.” Well, I recently crossed that one-year line so I began musing: What HAVE I learned this first year in retirement?
Let’s get the obvious out of the way – yes, life is MUCH less stressful when you can stay in bed as long as you want! And yes, stress in your life is further reduced when you can do the chores and errands any time of the week and take as long as you want to get ‘em done - or, hire someone ELSE to do them FOR you!
But I’ve also learned a few things that are less obvious. First, spending time with your spouse – yes, it’s important to learn the right amounts of time apart and together. It’s a learning process. But wow – how much more deeply you can fall in love when you can do the things you want together and spend more time just enjoying each other! I don’t think DW and I were ever closer in spirit than we are now.
Leaving the military – I didn’t come close to realizing how difficult and painful it would be leaving both the service to my country and my comrades in arms. We took an oath – to give our lives to our country to the point of death. And we have each other’s back – we support and care about each other. My family experienced this love and support first-hand. I’m finding a variety of ways to help and serve our military veterans – you never stop serving, and we’re soldiers for life. I very much miss those with whom I’ve served, think of them more than they probably realize, and pray for them often.
Retirement is not all peaches and cream – it’s not a life without problems. I was extremely hurt by someone I thought I was close with about a month ago. I did everything I could to restore the relationship, but the person walked away – I couldn’t prevent it. I’m still not clear why it happened. I’ve always cared deeply about the people in my life, and I think that’s probably even more true in retirement. What could I do? I forgive and remain open if the person wants to return. But I recently heard a wise statement: “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” I’m trying not to do that, and DW and I are still enjoying old friends and making new ones, doing what we want and deeply enjoying our life in retirement.
That being said, you learn to really appreciate the simple yet profound and amazing things – freedom, true peace and eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ, meals with the one you love, sunsets, snow, and joy even in these days of COVID. I look forward to traveling more and further than we do now, but it doesn’t matter much when I think that the best life – the one after death – is coming. Even in the midst of a little restlessness I feel settled. And THAT is a lesson worth learning!
Let’s get the obvious out of the way – yes, life is MUCH less stressful when you can stay in bed as long as you want! And yes, stress in your life is further reduced when you can do the chores and errands any time of the week and take as long as you want to get ‘em done - or, hire someone ELSE to do them FOR you!
But I’ve also learned a few things that are less obvious. First, spending time with your spouse – yes, it’s important to learn the right amounts of time apart and together. It’s a learning process. But wow – how much more deeply you can fall in love when you can do the things you want together and spend more time just enjoying each other! I don’t think DW and I were ever closer in spirit than we are now.
Leaving the military – I didn’t come close to realizing how difficult and painful it would be leaving both the service to my country and my comrades in arms. We took an oath – to give our lives to our country to the point of death. And we have each other’s back – we support and care about each other. My family experienced this love and support first-hand. I’m finding a variety of ways to help and serve our military veterans – you never stop serving, and we’re soldiers for life. I very much miss those with whom I’ve served, think of them more than they probably realize, and pray for them often.
Retirement is not all peaches and cream – it’s not a life without problems. I was extremely hurt by someone I thought I was close with about a month ago. I did everything I could to restore the relationship, but the person walked away – I couldn’t prevent it. I’m still not clear why it happened. I’ve always cared deeply about the people in my life, and I think that’s probably even more true in retirement. What could I do? I forgive and remain open if the person wants to return. But I recently heard a wise statement: “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” I’m trying not to do that, and DW and I are still enjoying old friends and making new ones, doing what we want and deeply enjoying our life in retirement.
That being said, you learn to really appreciate the simple yet profound and amazing things – freedom, true peace and eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ, meals with the one you love, sunsets, snow, and joy even in these days of COVID. I look forward to traveling more and further than we do now, but it doesn’t matter much when I think that the best life – the one after death – is coming. Even in the midst of a little restlessness I feel settled. And THAT is a lesson worth learning!
