December 20, 2023
Most people look forward to retirement as a time when they think that they can do whatever they wish to do, whenever they want to do it. I am retired and reflected on whether it is true. What I found is that I settled into a routine that expands the time available in a day for doing just sustaining activities, having less time for many things I’d like to do. Why?
Perhaps I take longer to do things than I used to. For example: I may be less efficient when going grocery shopping. Or, perhaps, I enjoy shopping more now than before and spend more time in the stores. The adage about activities expand to fill the time available is true. Let me describe a typical day.
Since I have no daily obligations or commitments, the first thing that crosses my mind when waking up is, why get up today? I need a purpose or task to motivate me to roll out of bed. Once I identify what I am going to do, I feel ready to get up. But first, I need to loosen up my joints, the calf muscles are tight, so I begin to rotate my foot around my ankle and then pull up my knees to my chest to loosen up the hamstrings. Still sleepy, I roll out of bed and stumble into the kitchen to make coffee, decaf, a slow start is fine in the morning.
I remember friends who used to reach for a cigarette waking up; I reach for my cellphone. While I do not get newsprint papers anymore, I subscribe to many online news sources.
With coffee in hand, I must catch up on the news, right? I want to know what is going on at home and around the world. Often, the headlines of myonline sourcesprovide sufficient info for me while other times I immerse myself in a detailed account of a news item such as the article on how Hamas accumulated an $11 billion war chest.
In other repetitive news, I learn that: the Ukraine war is still on, the Hamas/Israeli war is still on, COP28 produced an agreement, Congress is still stumbling around with the new Speaker and the Canadian Prime Minister, who prefers to globetrot than stay home, is out of the country again on some worldwide trip.
I prefer reading news that upsets me, such as about the woman, pregnant with her third child and facing death without an abortion, having to leave the State of Texas to get an abortion in another state where abortion is allowed. I get upset at the Attorney General of Texas who brought in the legislation making abortion illegal for any reason.
Or I read about the Premier of Quebec bashing the Anglos again via French language policies, trying to bolster his low political standing in the province, an always sure-winning strategy in Quebec. Disgusting. The Premier raised university fees for out-of-province students at Montreal’s English language universities creating serious financial hardship for their survival. And by centralizing healthcare, services in English may be reduced in the future. French language policies in Quebec have always upset me: when will Quebecors realize that outside Quebec, most Canadians do not give a fig about French?
Now that upsetting news woke me up and got my adrenalin flowing, it is time for breakfast. An important activity: fix eggs, sunny side up, to perfection, with toast and jam on the side and more coffee, this time full-strength.
Following breakfast, my routine is to make the bed and do bathroom duties that have increased in complexity with the arrival of a Waterpik. I thought the Pik would replace the toothbrush, but I discovered that it is a flossing device only and brushing teeth is still a go, followed up with the Waterpik.
It could be 10 am by now and it is time to start exercising. Do not miss exercises; as you age, it is important to keep fit and I have a variety of options: get on the floor and do my yoga poses I learned from attending classes and from TV yoga gurus; or I can turn on the TV and follow walking exercises, Pilates, or warmups. The ten-minute warmup I like is with music by the BeeGees, which gets me sweaty.
Some days, when I feel energetic (or when Kathy “encourages” me), I follow up my in-house exercise routine by going to the gym as well where I mostly use the machines. On occasion, I have even signed up for a private lesson where they have encouraged me to use more free weights. But, honestly, I am quite happy with the treadmill, stair climber, bicycle, and various machines challenging my leg muscles. even though I know that the free weights would be useful for my upper body.
You see by now where I am going with this?
After the gym, it is time for lunch, which I never miss. And, of course, after all the exercise, I take a siesta after lunch, followed by coffee to wake me up. That makes the afternoon short with little time for chores if I am to leave time for my blogging before dinner.
I could go on describing how I spend my timeeating, having coffee, exercising, and napping. I think I am quite wasteful with my time just to sustain my existence. Although my days are enjoyable, and relaxing, I am convinced that retired people, including myself, need a goal, a project, a mission, or a purpose such as authoring a book, traveling to far-flung places, working at a soup kitchen, or taking courses on subjects of interest. Otherwise, life is meaningless.
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