17 2/3 Months To Go

[deuces wild]

...........to retirement and doing so 6 years before a normal retirement age, something I am proud of.

Yep, I am counting the months......soon to be weeks and eventually days. Recently I have lost the "Eye of the Tiger" and find it hard to stay motivated. Yes, I get the work done, but not at the pace or quality I once produced. Even so, my work and production is considered as above average. How others in with my company fall short of that is beyond me.

For you retired folks..........did you suffer from the same symptoms just prior to your retirement? If not, how did you stay motivated?

For others nearing retirement...........have you lost the "Eye of the Tiger"?

[doug]

I was very lucky. Manged to solve and eliminate a major technical problem that my - then - industry had been suffering from for many years with 3 months to go. The last 3 months were spent tidying up paperwork and being very rude to senior management for stupidity. At times my vocabulary became very limited but boy did I feel better. The worst period was during the 3 months after retiring when I couldn't stop waking up in anticipation of the alarm sounding off. Then I had a stroke - 3 months to the day after retiring. Now I sometimes just wake up early. Very seldom use the alarm clock these days. mostly set it for the early morning taxi when we are off to catch an early flight on holiday. It is very important to get lots af holidays in and go to places that you have always thought and talked about. As a potential member of the Silver Economy (or even a premature Geriatric) it's your duty. Let the youngsters indulge in carbon trading and offsets, you will have paid your dues and it'll be time to start drawing down from the bank of life. It always gives me great pleasure going to some pay desk or other and demanding "2 Geriatrics please".

[-pops-]

I knew from your headline what the gist of this thread was going to be!

I've been (early) retired since 1996 and since then, I've never been busier. In the months leading up to retirement, I spent a lot of time thinking about "my own thing" (see later!)

Upon retirement I set up my own consultancy business as, just at that time, there were huge changes in the regulatory conditions of the industry I worked in and, having been involved in making these changes, I was considered something of an expert to advise others in this. The company that had just retired me used my services!

This regulatory work, lucrative as it was initially, gradually tailed off and also became boring - which I didn't need to fulfil myself in retirement.

In 1999 I suffered several heart attacks and I eventually needed surgery and which left me partially physically disabled so there I was with a brain that worked properly but a body that didn't.

There were a lot of things (ideas) that I'd had during my working life which didn't fit in the industry that employed me and I decided that, now I had the time, I would try and develop these. This has kept me very busy both physically and mentally and, I think, has paid a large part in me not getting decrepit.

I'm very pleased now that it's all paid off. I've just signed a deal with one of the largest manufacturers in their field in North America for them to market one of my inventions.

Despite that, I still have loads of ideas in my head (and some on my laboratory bench) that will keep my brain active for a long time.

[andsome]

I was prepared to stay until I was 65, but the general manager caused me to have a nervous breakdown, so I retired 18 months early. Six months after I retired, an ex customer asked me to work part time for them, he offered me a Volkswagen Passat and £28000 per annum. I was so pleased with life being retired that I turned it down. We had to get by on my private pension and PEP income for 18 months, until this was supplemented by the state pensions of both of us. I hated him at the time, but looking back, I was under such stress working for the devil incarnate, that the breakdown was probably a blessing, and early retirement away from the stress has probably extended my life. I get up early, usually about 7 a.m. but am rarely dressed until much nearer 10 a.m. I do what I want, only when I want to do it, and rarely do today, what can be put off until tomorrow. We no longer feel the need or desire for long holidays thousands of miles from home, and much prefer a few days at a time in this country, there is still so much that we have not seen. With such lovely places to see here, there seems little point in airport hassle. Cruising has no appeal, long days at sea, and then a few hours ashore. We love the countryside in our own country. I play bowls of course, and 'Er indoors paints water colours. We go out for meals with friends and visit the kids. All in all, a very quiet but very satisfying life. :D

How old will you be when you retire DW, you don't state your age in your profile?

[deuces wild]

Thanks for the interesting replies on life after retirement and how retirement came to be.

Andsome, I will be 59.

[-pops-]

They say that your school days are the best days of your life - RUBBISH - your retirement days are the best days of your life by a long, long way.

[andsome]

They say that your school days are the best days of your life - RUBBISH - your retirement days are the best days of your life by a long, long way.

TOO TRUE. Just enjoy whatever you choose to do. If you feel industrious then be so, if you feel lazy then just lie back and let the world wash over you. The choice is yours. I feel very irritated with people who say how much they miss ****, the dreaded four letter word starting with W. There is so much to do or better still NOT TO DO, it's great to have the choice. Don't worry about age either. In one of my bowls clubs there is a 94 year man who still wins league matches, and in the other club a 92 year old lady who does likewise. A few months ago she bought a brand new car. THAT IS JUST GREAT.

[Irene]

They say that your school days are the best days of your life - RUBBISH - your retirement days are the best days of your life by a long, long way.

I whole heartedly agree! :D

[Jayno]

It may be the Navajo, I can't remember exactly, but years ago I read a book about the comparative Philosophies of Time across different cultures and I came across an anthropologist's description of one North American Indian Tribe which apparently has only have two tenses in its language - a sort of extended/eternal Present Tense, and what was described as an Anticipatory Future Tense.

The more I think about being in the state of consciousness that these two tenses imply, the more it blows my mind!

Childhood and Retirement both in the now of today, and the prospect of tomorrow's sun-rise and sur-prise as well .. way to go .. way to be eh?!

[catgate]

I sometimes wonder if the best day of ones life is not the last one, when one is relieved of the responsibility of it all.

Yes ... I agree...a strange thought.

[Jayno]

er .. come again Cat?

[catgate]

er .. come again Cat?

Well I am not sure how to express it any clearer, Jayno.

From the day of birth to the day of death one is carrying a burden of responsibility or "obligation". These obligations are to parents, to teachers, to offspring, to friends, to all those who have helped one on the way to where ever one has got to in life, to the general public ( to those of them who have not turned out to be prats, and to those who are prats and have given cause for mirth). Then there is the burden of obligation to ensure that the Westminster (and other) troughs are full to overflowing, and the burden of remaining civil and non-violent in the face of modern socio-stupidity and population control with all its deceit. The list is endless...it is added to almost every day.

[deuces wild]

Could you please start your own thread catgate? I have no desire to read about death and your negative thoughts of life.

This thread has nothing to do with those subject.

[catgate]

Could you please start your own thread catgate? I have no desire to read about death and your negative thoughts of life.

This thread has nothing to do with those subject.

I do hope you will accept my humble apology for intruding so rudely on a matter of such a serious, unique and important nature. Although, as I looked at it, I was simply being polite in replying to another forum member.

[Jayno]

Cat

Your observations do come across as rather bleak, but I have to say I don't mind you expressing them, and you're right to say you were politely replying to me. I'm sure Deuces, I and other members would be interested in hearing what you regard as rewarding in life, and, to return to the topic of the thread, your take on retirement.

[deuces wild]

Cat

Your observations do come across as rather bleak, but I have to say I don't mind you expressing them, and you're right to say you were politely replying to me. I'm sure Deuces, I and other members would be interested in hearing what you regard as rewarding in life, and, to return to the topic of the thread, your take on retirement.

Living it.........with my family and friends. B)

[catgate]

Cat

Your observations do come across as rather bleak, but I have to say I don't mind you expressing them, and you're right to say you were politely replying to me. I'm sure Deuces, I and other members would be interested in hearing what you regard as rewarding in life, and, to return to the topic of the thread, your take on retirement.

I shall certainly reply to you and your question, Jayno, but in another thread. I would hate to be the one to spoil and belittle the importance of the unique occurrence which is the paramount subject of this thread.

However I shall do that tomorrow, after I have had time to get over the hurt caused to my sensitive nature by the realisation of my careless and unfeeling earlier response.