And what did we do with our lives once we retired? Did we do what we thought we would? We did want to get involved in our community. This involvement took an expanded turn with the invention of the Internet and Podcasting. Perhaps your’s will also. I serve this podcast as a tale of retirement as it may progress.

The pause is the thing. The pause gives our mind time to work. It gives us time to think. It calls forth our imagination. We need time to sort through possibilities, thoughts, and values. We need time to find out what we are thinking.

We graduate many times in life. We step up. We step away. We step into. We move. That's the thing isn't it. We move on. Hopefully we move on to something greater that that which we have just experienced. Retirement is one of the last major change.

"One thing I love about retirement is the freedom to take risks and act "irresponsibly" - the kids are all grown - no-one is actually dependent on me anymore so I feel free to play - climb cliffs - swim in shark infested waters or whatever - maybe take up hang gliding?"

I'm getting grumpy. I am getting pretty possessive of what has my attention. Retirement offers us time to pursue whatever we wish but sometimes our space and time gets invaded. Focusing on what we can control takes some effort.

Energy is one of those things that always seems in short supply. Thus it always has a high value. We feel this at the end of each day when we finally succumb to personal loss and lay our head on a pillow. It seems like there ought to be a way to beat the system; a way to get around this loss and keep right on moving. I wish.

Our lives are filled with people coming and going. We meet them; have an interaction and then never see them again. We move one direction and they move another. This is likely to be the fate of many of our relationships. What to do?

You don't have to go far to feel like an explorer. There is more novelty and more surprises waiting just around the corner. It is this daily discovery that keeps me smiling.

When I launched this project I was discouraged with information available on retirement that did not have to do with investments and finances. It appeared that the only concern in retirement was money. My own experience of being retired told me that there was much more to retired life than money.

It is important that a health directive be clear and be known to those who might be involved in your manner of death. It makes me think that I need to be a bit more active along this line.