Now that I’m retired, I realize there is a big difference between doing something and being someone. Sure, I have more time to do anything I want, but how do I define myself? Until now, I have always identified with my job or my career. I was a Sales Manager, or I was the Director of something, and eventually, I was the Business Owner. That was how I saw myself, but it was also how others perceived me.
What am I doing?
Let’s take pickleball. I can play the game every day, but I can never be a pickleball professional. No matter how hard I try or how many clinics I attend, at 74, I can only get so good. They typically group by age in amateur tournaments, unless there aren’t enough 70+ players. Then, they add the 70+ players in with the 50 and 60-year-olds. Oh well, I won’t be winning tournaments.
I do yoga, so that makes me a Yogi. What I love about yoga is its inclusiveness. If you show up, you are a Yogi! Rarely do we compare ourselves to other yogis, except to admire their flexibility.
What else am I? I’m a walker. If I can’t play pickleball in the morning, I love to put in my earbuds, tune into NPR and take a good walk of 2 or 3 miles. Typically, I walk alone, so it’s a good time to catch up on the news.
I’m also a wife. Since we have been married for over 19 years, it’s curious that I feel more like a wife now. Since we met, Bill and I were so focused on finding new careers and eventually starting a business that it often felt more like a partnership than a marriage. We did very well as partners; now it’s time just to be us, a retired married couple. I find myself disappearing a little in this retirement life while I figure out what I’m doing. I’m still the most social one, however.
Who am I Becoming?
I think that’s where I am right now – becoming. I am beginning to write this blog for fun. For the business, I did the blogging, the website, the videos – all of the marketing. I called it “practice” writing. Now it’s time for the rubber to meet the road and see what I will become. Will the blog take off, or do I have a book in me? Am I becoming an author? Will I get a part-time job? Or, will I adopt a cause and volunteer my time? I’m taking bets, and I’ll update you as time goes on.
We baby boomers are a work in progress. The good thing is that we have the time to “become” who we want to be. For me, it is being a traveler while it is still feasible.
So far it looks like you’re doing all the right things in your retirement. Relaxing, traveling, trying new things and loving people you meet and the things that you do with a smile on your face. I am better for I have known you and I hope all the people you meet feel the same way.
Thank you so much, Sherrie! Come visit.
When asked, I still reply that I am a scientist. On a technicality it’s even true (I maintain a small lab of one). But it isn’t the technicality that makes me answer that way. Science is, more than anything, a way of thinking. And although the 80 hours of lab work a week are in the rear view, the mindset is still there. I’m enjoying your posts, Kathy.
And I always enjoy reading yours! Class of ’65 rocks.
In my eyes you will always be my mentor. You’ve helped me become the person I am in “my retirement” and I am forever grateful.