Time to slow down

As you go through life retirement always seems so far off. As a young man it in not even something to think about but then as middle age looms the thought of retirement is something that you push as far ahead as you possibly can. However, as they say…

(Isabelle Grosjean ZA, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Time and tide wait for no man

… and so the time eventually comes when you can’t avoid it.

When that happens is likely different for every person. For some it doesn’t come until very late in life and some never feel it is the right time and they work on forever. For others it comes sooner. However, if it does come for you then you know it has happened… this has pretty much happened for me I believe.

Since Sally died I have had the huge good fortune in that I have met my Tracy and I have a new wife, a new family and a new beginning. That is not something that happens to everyone so late in life. However, not everything has been all sweetness and light in my life. Sally and I ran our own business together for many years and when she was no longer with me I thought I’d be able to just pick up on my own. This has proved to be difficult… well, impossible. I struggled on not really being as successful as I was before and not knowing why. I then looked at possibly starting a new business but nothing excited me. All in all I have been floundering for months not knowing what was wrong and not knowing how to get out of the rut.

I think now that I want to give up on any big ideas of starting up in business again. I am not far off 60 now and the idea of putting in the dedication and commitment to make it a success is, quite frankly, exhausting just to think about it. Combine that with the fact that I have struggled so much recently being focused on anything at all and I have come to the conclusion that perhaps now it the time to accept that retirement has arrived.

Of course, I am also fortunate that financially I can consider retirement and that is not something that everyone has much of a choice with. If you have to work to survive then you do what it takes. But if we are careful and make our savings and pensions last then we can retire without much of a reduction in lifestyle. We may have to move to a smaller house but that makes sense anyway given that it is just the two of us most of the time now that Pam and Harry are spending less time with us. So look towards a house move perhaps this year or next and there may be significant changes in other areas too.

So in summary… I am retiring and will see how it goes. If I end up pulling out my hair then I may reassess but for now, and from now on, I am RETIRED!