New Year, New Reality

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Had I still been working, January would have been one of my busiest months. A hard jolt of reality after the festive break.

I have been intrigued to discover that even in retirement there is a similar feeling. The Youngest and I took down our Christmas tree on Monday and in so doing normality was restored. The Eldest returned to his home in the Midlands and I returned to the gym.

Believe me, it hurt; it hurt so much. Of course, there were no excuses. Whilst I was sufficiently dedicated to have gone on both Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, something went badly askew between December 26th and January 5th and I found myself readily adopting the role of a couch potato curled up with a couple of books, piles of mince pies and a drink or two.

Well I'm not complaining; retirement has certainly boosted the number of books I'm reading and last week I rediscovered Graham Greene as well as a superb novel about asylum seekers, "The Other Hand" by Chris Cleave.

I  have also now discovered how quickly my body can stiffen up without regular exercise and it was little wonder therefore that I was queuing at the door for yoga today. The wonder of stretching followed, of course, by 15 minutes relaxation and mindfulness. In future, I shall perhaps strive harder to limit those hours of relaxation so that they are commensurate with exercise that I have taken rather than being a 9 day luxurious and unearned indulgence. But they were good!


Comments

Debra Journet said…
I would be getting ready to teach. I thought I would miss it; really I don't.
7 January 2015 at 22:54
Caree Risover said…
Strangely though, and I've never taught, I love going into schools and remain a school governor (despite the fact that my own children have not attended the schools in question for several years). Obviously the fact that it isn't a job makes my visits very different but one of the things I do enjoy about retirement is being able to give more time to my voluntary commitments. Unlike work, you do feel that the more you put in, the more you get out.
8 January 2015 at 15:44
Debra Journet said…
I think I will eventually miss the structure of teaching (it really organizes your life). But right now I am enjoying the freedom.
8 January 2015 at 18:00
Caree Risover said…
I think that it's the lack of structure that I love about my experience of retirement so far. So many sources advise on the need to make a routine and create structure but I have a To Do List and that's my limit. After all those years of work and commitment organising life for you, it's true escapism. I'm wondering too if and for how long that feeling will last and whether I'll succumb to some kind of innate desire for repetitiveness and monotony (I do like a cup of coffee at 11am).
8 January 2015 at 21:06
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