After a long life of working, I’m soon to be retired

After 50 years in the workforce, I’m finally approaching retirement. It took a very long time for me to get comfortable with the prospect of not having a place to go on Monday mornings.

Think about it — when you go to a party and meet new people, the first question asked so often is: “So what do you do?” Answering with the R-word will be strange for sure.

I’ll miss my job a little, but I’ll miss my co-workers much more. Being part of a team and getting projects done is very satisfying. To work hard and then to accomplish goals with other motivated and responsible people is very rewarding. I know I’ll miss that a lot.

Don’t get me wrong: I work in a large bureaucracy, and that drives me crazy. It’s just inherently soulless on so many levels. The endless memos, meetings, and artificial deadlines, to say nothing of the crazily complicated budgeting and purchasing process, are not something I’ll miss.

If I never see another “You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it sure helps” sign, or a poster of a kitten hanging by a thread with the caption “Hang in there,” that will be perfectly all right with me as well. At least I didn’t have a countdown retirement clock displaying on my monitor for the last 20 years, haha.

Here are two very different examples of a possible retired life:

— I know a retired cement contractor who has a big barn in the country where he does top-level restorations of cars and trucks. I once asked him, “How do you manage to get so much quality work done?” He replied, “I treat this like a job. I’m out here at 7 a.m. five days a week, rain or shine, and I work all day. That’s the only way to do it.”

— A friend who works in a local motorcycle shop told me about a guy who rode in and asked to have the air pressure in his tires checked. My friend explained that tires heat up as you drive or ride and that, to get the true air pressure, it’s best to do it yourself first thing in the morning, or after the vehicle has been sitting for a few hours. The guy replied: “I’m retired. I don’t have to do anything anymore. Just check the damn tires.”

Between these two extremes, I’m hoping to find a good balance for living in retirement. Yes, I have plenty of hobbies: motorcycling, both riding and restoring; music performance; writing; woodworking; exercise; and so many more.

But do I really want to commit to doing any of them at 7 a.m. every day, all day? I’m not so sure about that. I mean, if I wanted another job, I would just get another job.

Conversely, do I want to be the guy with a goofy “I’m retired and I can wine all I want” T-shirt and sit around all day doing nothing? Not a chance. I’ve seen enough daytime TV to know that’s something I don’t want any part of.

I’m hoping retirement will offer a new and varied set of challenges and opportunities. The trick will be to balance so many interests to achieve some kind of harmony.

For example, I’ve been thinking long and hard about volunteering for everything and anything: fire company, Habitat for Humanity, library trustee, and many more.

You often see gray-haired Baby Boomers like I’ll soon be doing things to help out in the community. I definitely want a piece of that, but how much commitment can I really promise?

I have grandchildren that I’m hoping to see more of. Then there’s that long hoped-for travel that we all look forward to, once we have the time.

Finally, there is the declining energy problem. As we get older, we have to use it wisely, because there just isn’t that unlimited amount available anymore like there used to be when we were young. Sigh.

When I drive to work, I’m on the road before 6 a.m. There is nobody on the road at that time, and I just zoom into the office.

Conversely, on days I have off and I’m driving later in the day, there is a lot of traffic and congestion. Yikes. I sure wish the stores opened on “my” time. I’m so used to getting up early, I could get all my errands done by the time everyone else is just going out.

Then again, without having an early job to get to, I may wind up staying up later at night and then getting up late like everyone else. I honestly have no idea which way this will go. I do like the mornings because they’re so quiet and peaceful, and I would hate to lose that most precious and peaceful part of the day. We’ll see.

Having a lot more time to read is something I’m looking forward to very much. In fact, I can see myself riding — either motorcycle or bicycle — or driving to interesting places just to find new places to sit peacefully and read. If I only did that, I’d be very happy. So many books, so little time!

After a long life of working, a well earned retirement offers plenty of new opportunities for self growth, helping others, and just plain relaxing. It will be so interesting to see how my time fills up without having to be at a certain place at a certain time every day anymore.

It has taken me a long time to get to this place, and I’m still skeptical of using the R-word at parties or wearing a goofy retirement T-shirt. Still, after a life of working, now it’s time to relax, at least a little. Wish me luck.