Thoughts on retirement

I love my retirement, there is no downside.

My yard and the birds, give me a lot of joy...I'm easily pleased by the sighting of a bird at the feeder, a flower in bloom, the sound of the wind in the trees and a cup of hot coffee.

Blossoms on a tree that was bent in half during a bad storm last winter, it is doing great.

Jacob's ladder

I love this plant, delicate and complex blooms.

The soon to open blooms remind me of a bell.

Lily of the Valley is one of my favorite flowers.
Although I can't smell them, I think they are a simple and elegant Spring flower, especially after a rain.

This robin is on her way to the nest with groceries for the family.

So, back to thoughts on this retirement thing.

Not everyone adapts to not 'having a job'.

I had friends who retired who seemed to find it hard to separate, they continued to question changes at the brewery and it seemed like they felt left out after retiring from their many years there.

I never felt that way, I'm always interested to hear any news of the brewery, but what decisions are made there now, are of no concern to me.

I did my thing, and now others are doing theirs.

So, what makes the difference, why do some people love retirement instantly, while others may struggle with a sense of loss and worth.

Maybe there is wisdom in a quote from Holger Koch's writings.  He was one of the leaders in the West Denmark community where I grew up, his grandson recently posted a newspaper article on Facebook that contained the following quote, I found it to be quite profound.

If we can't make the time pass after 65, 

it is a sign the we have been killing time all our life. 

If we kill time now, time will be worthless when we have all the time we want. 

It is not enough that retired people have something to do, 

it is not a matter of killing time,  

but rather they should feel that time runs away from them.  

H. Koch

Time runs away from me.

Life is Good.