Looking at Retired Life

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As the fiscal year winds down and I reflect on the second year of retirement, I realize that I really do have the best of both worlds. Financially speaking I am very secure. I have enough money coming in to support my hobbies and interests as well as to pay all my bills. This means that money worries are off the table. I am able to schedule my work activities according to my schedule and at my convenience. This is not something that should be taken lightly. There are very few people who have this kind of flexibility. I also have time. Time to read, write, create art, and nap. Yes, if I stay up late to check my WP comments, I can take a nap and no one has any issue with it! So all things considered, I am having fun in my retirement…

Take my hand and walk through the door
Else I will leave forever more

Why is this the end of living
I always thought life would hold more

It isn’t greed that burns my hand
My itching palms want something more

A kiss without love feels empty
Love without touch makes me want more

A thief takes my heart and pawns it
For a few coins, it is worth more

Leisure activities take time
With time and drive I can do more

The poet writes these worthy words
Ignore fierce lines and truth no more

The above is a Ghazal, a 7th century Arabian poetry form composed of 5 – 15 couplets that are structurally, thematically, and emotionally autonomous. Each line is approximately the same length. The 1st couplet second line end word is repeated as the end word in all the following couplet’s 2nd lines. (Yikes it sounds very complicated but it isn’t.) Each couplet must be able to stand alone. And perhaps it is a little bit of ego but the final couplet usually contains the poets name or their name’s meaning…

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58 thoughts on “Looking at Retired Life”

    1. It is. I was worried about retiring and the loss of income. I was so silly – retirement for many is delayed for many years (as in working into their 70s) but I was able to do it while I’m still healthy. Of course I didn’t plan on the pandemic so my world travel tour has been delayed…

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    1. Thankyou David! I am fortunate but it wasn’t all luck… I worked hard and even when it wasn’t convenient, I put 25% of my income into pension and investment savings. Life is good and I will be doing MORE!

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  4. For the first part of last year, I found a full time job I liked along with my part time. I was busy! I worked with a lady who was 80 years old. Honestly, she did not have to work but she continued. I am now back to part time and nearer to retirement. I accept my body is getting tired but I still search for the perfect job to supplement my part time. Having the grandkids over this past week visiting from Oklahoma kept me busy and away from the computer! I will not be 80 and still working. Have a wonderful day.

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      1. murisopsis, I don’t have bad luck and poor choices. You make the assumption. Husband tells me we are fine with my online gig but I am not ready to retire yet! Don’t always assume the worst for me! And the 80 year old working at my last school was helping her granddaughter through dental school but personally I think she was bored.

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        1. You have mistaken me! I was not implying that you had made bad choices – I was thinking of the woman that works at the museum going on 80 who has to work or become homeless… I guess you don’t know me very well as I would never think that, say that or assume that of my WP friends.

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          2. At least if you have to work, the museum is a good place. My teacher friend last year was 80 and worked with ESE students who were very rough. I admired her greatly but wondered about her choice to work. She really did not have to work but she chose. I won’t be 80 and still working.

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            1. The museum pays a pittance and she would be on the street if it weren’t for her friends who make sure she had groceries! (She was telling me that she eats at her neighbors house every Sunday… It is good that she has people looking out for her!

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  5. I LOVE the poem and the message it sends….I retired on a Friday and went back to work on Monday, in my same office but then working as a consultant. Not for the money so much as that I loved my work. The great advantage of then being a consultant was that I could say when, how, and where I would work with more income, if then taking care of my own health insurance etc, which was then going to be covered by my wife’s insurance on her job. Now not everyone has these advantages… Then one day, I was again told that the following Monday I should move my office into the Business office, down town~!… I told them not to look for me, as I would be out at Los Perdidos, starting work on our long planned retirement home, and that is when I really retired, only working on our future (which I really should have done earlier)~! Enjoy, but plan~!

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    1. That is kind of what I’m doing now… I work how and when I want (making allowances for the constraints of the research). I’ve taken care of all the little projects I had planned around the house (that are within my abilities). The next phase is the repainting of the basement and new flooring on the basement stairs… I’m not so sure I want to burden Sparky with a stairs project…

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  6. Well done on the retirement!
    AND the poem; wonderful work, valorous one!
    (i’ve taken notes on the form so that I can play with it, when we get to that. 😉

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    1. Many thanks Kim! I am enjoying this phase of life. I was always thinking “pshaw” when retired folks would say that they were busier than ever. But it is true!! As for this form – I’ve already started to put together the August scavenger hunt and I don’t think this form is going to make the cut… (there are so many to choose from!)

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  8. In much the same position as yourself, Muri, and thriving – not just surviving- in retirement. I worked hard throughout my life in jobs that I did well but were always merely a means to an end. Retirement allows me to follow my passions. Loving it:)

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    1. Yay us! There are many who have no outside interests and when they retire they lose their identities. I was fortunate enough to realize that problem and cultivate hobbies and friends outside the workplace. I too am following some passions: my ceramic art, geocaching, rock art, jewelry making, poetry and of course blogging. Some days don’t have enough hours!

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    1. Thank you Punam! I hadn’t tried the ghazal but I’m working through some new forms! It was fun but it did make my brain work in a different way than some of the other poetry forms!

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      1. You are welcome. Once you wrap your head around it, it is an easy form. We have been listening to ghazals since childhood, so the form is easy for us. I look forward to your fun with other poetry forms.

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        1. that makes your compliment even more valuable! I had looked at one that was given as an example and thought it looked difficult. But you are right – it isn’t that hard once you get started!! I hope some of the other forms don’t disappoint!

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        1. Hugs Michel! My father was on dialysis for 10 years. I know how hard it is on the body… He would get very cold even with several blankets. I will be saying some extra prayers for you!!

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  11. When we were advised to stay at home and keep our distance from throngs, my niece (an anti-vaxer) ridiculed me for my caution, telling me that since I was old (I was 67) and going to die soon anyway, I should live my life without restraint. How does one explain that these years, between retirement and incapacity are what I have been anticipating my entire adult life. Like you, I’ve saved carefully so that now my time is my own. The only thing I failed to anticipate was a husband who wouldn’t join my camping trips. LOL!

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    1. I’m so sorry to hear that Judy! Some of these young folks think 60 is one foot in the grave – of course when I was 20, sixty seemed ancient. Now that I’ve passed that milestone I’m looking at 90 as being old. I’m hoping that like my mother (89) I will be spry and still enjoying life! As for your niece’s stance on vaccination, should she become sick with COVID, she might just change her tune. My son had it and was very very ill narrowly avoiding hospitalization. I can honestly say (with all the nurses in the family) that health care workers who are dealing with COVID in the unvaccinated are not as sympathetic as when the vaccine was unavailable. I never knew that my husband was a lover of camping and now he really wants to live out of a van! Somehow that wasn’t one of the items we ever discussed in the marriage preparation classes…

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      1. LOL! Sometimes those little details don’t come up until retirement.

        My niece and her son both contracted Covid but thankfully, neither suffered much. It only served to reinforce her opinion that Covid was a hoax.

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  12. I love the feeling of contentment that flows from this … time and wealth to do all you wish! You are a master of these obscure formats 🙂

    Hope you got my email?

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  13. GHAZAL is an Urdu word. Different people attribute it to different cultures. And a ghazal usually, USUALLY, has the poet’s name (pseudonym) in the last line of the ghazal. You should learn Urdu and when you read a good ghazal in Urdu, it feels like everything is at a standstill, and you are one with nature or love or universe as the case may be. You will become a master in no time. Good attempt Val!

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    1. Thanks Zakiah! I doubt I will ever learn Urdu – I have no instructor! I fear it is the same as the haiku. Which in Japanese is a very different thing from what we are used to in English… The explanation of the form suggested that the poet’s name or name meaning was used thus the word worthy. Still you are right – in Urdu it would be so much better!

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  14. A beautiful rendition of the Ghazal Val…and i absolutely love this “A kiss without love feels empty
    Love without touch makes me want more”

    As for the retirement? I can’t wait for mine too😊😊

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  15. I saw your lovely words of gratitude and poetry the other day when you posted and thought I had commented! Seems I did not! I am very happy for you and your happy life and poetry!!!!

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  18. The ghazal is but one of the many gifts given humanity, by the Dispensation of Muhammad. It is heartening that you feel security in retirement. I am also in a secure place, both financially and in terms of time. Life is indeed sweet, even when there are challenges to face. It is a joy that I can face them in confidence.

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