Retirement Transitions - Going With the Flow

Today has been rather hectic, at least compared to most days post retirement. The car went in for servicing and I had to beg rides to and from. I met with one of the Realtors I interviewed to hear her proposal for listing our house. Then I went over some loose ends with my contractor. Finally, I went to an evening event at Brown that lasted over four hours.

Here it is, ten pm, and it just dawned on me that I have not written my Wednesday post. I sat down to do it this morning, but realized I had no topic in mind. I began sifting through magazine cuttings, hoping for some inspiration. The sifting soon led to filing, as part of the need to tidy up my basement office. Then the rest of the day got in the way.

My first reaction when I realized I had nothing done for the blog and nothing in mind was panic. I’m proud of how disciplined I’ve been about posting to this blog every Wednesday and Saturday. To miss one of those days is unthinkable. Suddenly and unexpectedly, I found myself in a “cone of serenity,” a favorite phrase of my friend Lynne.

Retirement is supposed to be less stressful than working. If this blog has reached the point where it is so rigid that it gives me panic attacks, something has gone terribly wrong. I decided to give myself permission to be flexible, and I’m asking you to give me that permission, too.

As for this “day that got away” from me, here's a thumbnail of the two key events. The suggested asking price from the Realtor (the first one to present to me) was far lower than I anticipated. If her price is validated by another Realtor, I’m not going to list the house this year. That will present a number of other choices to be made, but I’m not going to worry about them until and unless it becomes necessary. Stay tuned.

The event at Brown was extremely enjoyable. We toured two of the new and renovated buildings. I spent the evening with some long-time friends and met some new alumni (younger than I by several decades.) The tornadoes that were forecast went through Springfield, MA, several hours from Providence. All in all, quite a good evening.

Perhaps the best part: my friend Becky did the driving, so I was able to enjoy a nice glass of red wine at the dinner. And it wasn’t a cash bar, either. Now that’s something worth blogging about.