Mindfulness

On this uncharted journey called retirement, I choose to be actively aware to what I’m experiencing, to what I’m doing in the space I’m moving through. With mindfulness, I am open to observing my thoughts and feelings without judging them as good or bad. It will take practice, but I’ve got the rest of my life to do so. In the meantime, I enjoy the process.

The space I’m moving through has less definition than I’m used to. The walls, floors, and ceilings of a five-days-a-week work environment quickly morphed into an open-ended regimen of picking between whatever showed up on a given day. Such freedom, though intoxicating, could potentially be a little unsettling after moving past the this feels like an extended holiday phase of retirement. As I teetered on the edge of ambiguity, I realized I already knew what to do.

On a wall in my front room hangs a favorite quote painted on old, recycled pallet boards.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately. ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden

When captured by employment, my identity has always extended beyond my workplace personage; I just had less time to pursue my own activities and interests. Somewhere along the way I decided to live deliberately, to not allow life to simply be an endless lotto ball toss. My life’s fabric, though resplendent with bright splotches of chance happenings, is being woven in the colors of my deliberate, proactive choices and undertakings. True freedom, for me, is not just open-ended time; it’s more time to live deliberately.

No longer surrounded by timeclock mentality, I nevertheless embrace anchoring routines. Stretching exercises before getting out of bed; a walk in the cool morning air; listening to an NPR broadcast before taking on whatever tasks and challenges await. Deciding which tasks and challenges to include in my routine is enjoyable. That’s the part of being retired I appreciate the most. Far from not having anything to do, I get to choose how my days are filled –or not. Because I deliberately opt in for abundance, I know my life’s narrative will be extensive. Now that’s exciting.

Respond to every call that excites your spirit. ~Rumi