January 6th, 2017 was my last day working so as I approach my one year anniversary I wanted to express gratitude for being able to share about it on this board. I guess I'll just state what I view as the pros and cons my first year of early retirement.
Pros
- It's an indescribable feeling of relief and freedom not having to be someplace every single morning. Especially Mondays!!
-The ability to do over 100 hours of volunteering with NY Cares doing projects such as helping the elderly with creative writing, teaching chess in Queens, as well as tutoring young adults to prepare for their GED.
-Ample time to exercise 3-4x per week consistently
-Having the time to volunteer on numerous projects to benefit animals such as vegan education, anti animal circus campaigns, anti pet store protests and anti fur protests
-Having the time to read 18 books in 2017 ( read only 10 in 2016)
-Spending more time with my aging parents
-Not being devastated on Sunday nights about the prospect of the week ahead
-Not having to share a bathroom with coworkers. Ugh--sitting in a stall next to somebody. Just awful!
-Not having to deal with the small talk on the elevator at my office
-Little things like having a dream at night about being on a beach then waking up the next day and taking the subway out to Brighton Beach and enjoying the day at the beach
-The feeling of freedom that can hit me at any moment during the day just puts a smile on my face
-Having the time to work on my meditation practice so I can be more relaxed and be present in my life
-Simple things like sitting on a bench in Washington Square park on a midweek spring or fall afternoon reading a book and and feeding almonds to squirrels
-Being able to spend more time with our 2 cats!
-Waking up on any given morning and then just turning over and sleeping for another 30 minutes without a worry in the world
Cons
-Very seldom, but sometimes feeling like I don't "deserve" this
-Feeling a bit alienated from people who are still working
-Sometimes feeling "this is too good to be true" and thinking something bad is going to happen
-Accepting the strange and bewildered looks on peoples faces when I tell them I retired
Pros
- It's an indescribable feeling of relief and freedom not having to be someplace every single morning. Especially Mondays!!
-The ability to do over 100 hours of volunteering with NY Cares doing projects such as helping the elderly with creative writing, teaching chess in Queens, as well as tutoring young adults to prepare for their GED.
-Ample time to exercise 3-4x per week consistently
-Having the time to volunteer on numerous projects to benefit animals such as vegan education, anti animal circus campaigns, anti pet store protests and anti fur protests
-Having the time to read 18 books in 2017 ( read only 10 in 2016)
-Spending more time with my aging parents
-Not being devastated on Sunday nights about the prospect of the week ahead
-Not having to share a bathroom with coworkers. Ugh--sitting in a stall next to somebody. Just awful!
-Not having to deal with the small talk on the elevator at my office
-Little things like having a dream at night about being on a beach then waking up the next day and taking the subway out to Brighton Beach and enjoying the day at the beach
-The feeling of freedom that can hit me at any moment during the day just puts a smile on my face
-Having the time to work on my meditation practice so I can be more relaxed and be present in my life
-Simple things like sitting on a bench in Washington Square park on a midweek spring or fall afternoon reading a book and and feeding almonds to squirrels
-Being able to spend more time with our 2 cats!
-Waking up on any given morning and then just turning over and sleeping for another 30 minutes without a worry in the world
Cons
-Very seldom, but sometimes feeling like I don't "deserve" this
-Feeling a bit alienated from people who are still working
-Sometimes feeling "this is too good to be true" and thinking something bad is going to happen
-Accepting the strange and bewildered looks on peoples faces when I tell them I retired
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