Retirement: Review, Reflection and Refinement

Happy last day of 2023!  I thought this topic might be perfect given the time of year and the indulging that might be planned for this evening 🥳.   New Year's Eve hasn't really been a big deal for me over the years.  I tried the dinner/dance thing once but that wasn't for me.  Also, staying up until midnight is not easy!  I laughed at a meme on Instagram yesterday that said, "The only way I'll be up at midnight on New Year's Eve is if I have to pee!"  That's me in a nutshell.  I have enjoyed some celebrations in the past: tobogganing and hot chocolate with other families, games nights with friends, quiet time with family and one memorable New Year's Eve watching a Bugs Bunny marathon. I won't be seeing the ball drop tonight but I will greet the new year when I get up at 0530 tomorrow, bright-eyed and in need of caffeine (I'm still on my short-ish sleep schedule). As for the topic at hand, I have certainly indulged this holiday season (and ...

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!   I love the Christmas season - the lights, the decorations, the generally happy vibes, the friends and family get-togethers, the turkey dinner and the baking.  I recognize that many people struggle at this time of year for a variety of reasons and my thoughts are with them. I hope that everyone can find at least a little peace or happiness this Christmas. My favourite memory so far this holiday season is when I got to witness the absolute joy on little kids' faces during the annual tree lighting ceremony downtown.  Kids perched on their parents' shoulders had the most beautiful smiles when Santa came onto the stage and again when the giant tree was lit.  Their faces lit up like the tree itself and I wish I had had my camera with me.   I'm going to get right to the photos... The annual sugar cookie extravaganza. Levi and our friend Will have been getting together to decorate the sugar cookies for many years ...

I'm a bit late but for good reason.  Levi is home for two weeks and when your almost-23 year old offspring wants to hang out with you playing board games and hiking, then you play board games and go hiking instead of what you had planned to do. Today's topic is relaxation.  Retirement 2.0 allows me all the time I want for activities that I find relaxing.  The trick is to not allow "relaxing" to turn into inertia and end up as "couch potato."  When I retired the first time, I did experience some periods of time during which this became a problem.  Fortunately I was able to break the cycle and return to a healthier lifestyle fairly quickly.  For me, this takes a bit of effort though: self-discipline, stern talks to myself and planning.  I have always been a list-maker and list checker-offer and one strategy that usually works for me is to set goals.  I get a little hit of serotonin when I get to check something off that list.  I have annual, mo...

So far I'm ahead of my game from the previous two attempts at this blog...two posts in two weeks.  Yay me!  Today's topic...unexpected smiles. One of the things that I found I had to work at during my first go around at retirement was making sure I stayed engaged with activities that provide me with laughter.  I believe that laughing, smiling and finding joy in the little things are essential to a healthy life.  I didn't really consider how much of that I got from my work. Whether it was something one of my students did or said, or a comical situation with a colleague, a story someone had to tell or a happy outcome with one of my patients or families, I was fortunate enough to laugh and smile a lot. I think that in the noise of the negative aspects of my employment, I didn't appreciate the frequent enjoyment I experienced each work day, until it was gone. I highly recommend scrolling Instagram for laughs or to lighten your mood.  I don't post anything there but ...

As promised, week one of this Gratitude Project is ready to go and on time, woohoo!  I thought it only fitting given that I recently re-retired (and it will stick this time!), that I begin with talking a bit about my career, since I am enormously grateful to have chosen this line of work.  Despite almost nobody knowing what it is and having to answer the question, "What is that?" about a kazillion times, particularly in the earlier days, I believe I made the career choice that suited my personality, interests and skills perfectly.  When I was in first year university taking general arts and science and planning to apply to the physiotherapy program for the next year, I had a housemate who was planning to apply to occupational therapy (Kathy, that's you!).  I hadn't heard of it and embarrassingly to my future self asked, "What's that?" After doing a bit of research (pre-Google, so it took some effort), my life's trajectory changed and my career began....