I’ve replaced a Mai Tai with “My Time,” having returned from Hawaii.  I spent a lot of time with my wife the past couple of weeks -which was great.  However, I didn’t get much time to write, and although I had plenty of time in the sun to reflect on life I didn’t find any answers.  When I do finally get a chance to sit down and put words on a page, I find it to be very therapeutic.  I hope you find some value in my posts because it’s all I have left to contribute.  I no longer communicate with clients where I hoped to find solutions to their business problems, and I no longer have co-workers to share stories.  No one asks how my vacation was any more.  Only my wife asks how my day was?  Do I feel lonely? No.  In fact, I feel free.

During the week, I would imagine that I feel like a parent who finally gets their kids off to school and their spouse to work.  There is a sudden rush of freedom, knowing that your only responsibility until they all come home is yourself.  I call it “My Time,” and it’s better than any Mai Tai! It is, however, a tonic that you make for yourself.  What will I do with this valuable time?  I can do nothing at all, take a nap, do some housework, watch a movie, take the dogs for a walk, make a snack, work in the yard, run some errands, read a book, write a story, exercise, make a phone call, plan a trip, pay some bills, play the ukulele, do some research, or work on my collection.  The choices are endless and the freedom is what retirement is all about.

I’ve been on a strict weekday schedule for over sixty years, encompassing school, part-time jobs, and a career.  “My Time” was limited to weekends, holidays, and vacations that all ended abruptly.   “My Time” is also an album by Boz Scaggs, a time and attendance website, a 20 minute movie with a $5,000 budget, and I’m sure many other things to many other people.  I just know that I have it now at my disposal and I want to make the most of it.  How can I make the most of “My Time?”

It takes about 30 days of repetition to establish a habit, but sometimes years to finally break.  My newest habit is writing this blog.  I post something on average of about every two days.  I don’t post everything I write, but I’m becoming more comfortable with what I do post.  On the other hand, I’ve established some bad habits that will take a long time to break.  These include dreams about work, guilt about not working, worrying about money, and not living in the moment.  I’ll try to address these in more detail in future posts.  It may, however, take a Mai Tai or two to find the right words!