I love my job as an Agile independent consultant, but I've been wanting to have some time between gigs to "practice" retirement. As friends and Family will attest, I've been very frugal -- let's just say it: cheap! -- with the goal of retiring by age 60.
At age 58.75, I've been somewhat obsessed with the idea of retirement, both with the standard Pollyanna excitements and Negative Nellie fears.
Pollyanna:
- I can do whatever I want!
- I'll host a Carpe Diem network and find my 'tribe'.
- I'll have the time to travel, pursue hobbies, exercise, and have new adventures every week!
- I'll have parties, socialize, foster all my relationships, and with all my internet-dating and social-media savvy skills find the man of my dreams!
Negative Nelly:
- I will be bored.
- I will miss my high-paying Agile consulting work and instead be hosting Meetups that bomb for lack of interest.
- I will always be worried about spending money so instead of spending a penny on hobbies and adventures, I will cheaply play on my computer all day, blindly hopping from one site to another, depressed and only somewhat amused by funny YouTube videos.
- I will become progressively more sick, ugly, stupid, decrepit, and grumpy and only get online dating interest from men who are worse than me in all of those categories or those looking for GGILFs. Only one or two people will show up to my parties even when I invite ALL my say-they're-my-friends-but-really-they're-too-lazy-to-do-more-than-LIKE-one-of-my-facebook-posts. I don't get a single heart emoji from anyone.
Since Thanksgiving, I've been loving the time off and feeling a lot more Pollyanna-ish than Negative Nelly-ish.
I have been VERY busy living life fully, embracing every holiday event, looking for opportunities to spend quality time with family and friends. I also want to Write more, read more, learn more, experience more! Just to give you a little flavor of the fun I've been having:
- Hiked Chautauqua with my friend and fellow-coach, Ryan visiting from Boise.
- Had an awesome family Thanksgiving at Scotty's new house in Colorado Springs (now all my kids are officially home-owners!)
- Cleaning and organizing my basement
- Went to see an Elvis impersonator honoring police with a former police officer and good friend
- Learned about an intriguing network: Liv and befriended someone who's actively involved.
- Beta Tested a game about the Law of Attraction for Financial Goals
- Got a luscious massage from CoCo who works miracles on my back
- Went on the Golden Candlelight Walk and Fireworks with a good friend I hadn't seen for years
- Went to see Mary Poppins at the theater with a good friend who knew "Mary Poppins"!
- Went to a singing Meetup Group (even though I didn't actually sing)
- Started my own Meetup Group, Carpe Diem Connections
- Hosted a Conversation Salon about passions
- Went to a meeting to explore the possibility of going to Italy in May
- Got on Bumble and met a few people including a 51-year-old hottie with massive muscles
- Bought Solar Panels and had them installed at my home
- Went to a Book Release party celebrating the publication of a friend's book
- Am taking part in a CU experiment testing the effectiveness of edibles on lower back pain
- Planning my next Snowbird Experiment to Tampa
- Weightlifting at Lifetime Fitness and seeing notable improvement in Skeletal Muscle Mass!
- Made a new friend, Francisco.
- Got a surprise Christmas wreath in the mail from a good friend, Chris.
- Got together for a gal-pal brunch hosted by recovering back-pain-sufferer friend, Cathy.
I wrote a blog post about each of these in my head. I worked at fully appreciating each experience and noticing the smells, sights, sounds, and emotions and thought about how I could best describe the event so the reader would feel they were right there. I was so witty in my head.
My Pollyanna wants to write a perfect blog post or poem or journal entry about every one of those experiences. My Nellie does not want to spend any more time in front of the computer. I'm hoping to keep both voices satisfied. Write regularly... but keep the blog post short, sweet and imperfect, so I can keep up with living!
My Pollyanna wants to write a perfect blog post or poem or journal entry about every one of those experiences. My Nellie does not want to spend any more time in front of the computer. I'm hoping to keep both voices satisfied. Write regularly... but keep the blog post short, sweet and imperfect, so I can keep up with living!
