So This is Retirement

retirement (Photo credit: 401(K) 2012)

What do you think of when you think of retiring?  Even if you are not old enough yet to consider it, I am sure you have some idea of the perfect retirement.

Is it living on some idyllic beach watching the sunset with your Best Beloved beside you, or perhaps travelling the world with your BB, long lazy days in the garden or just sitting contemplating life?  Well yes.  I had all those thoughts too.

Willow Bay

In fact at the ripe old age of 48 I “retired” with my Dashing (Not So) Young Scotsman to a secluded bay in the Marlborough Sounds in the South Island of New Zealand.  That retirement lasted all of 9 months until we decided that we were really city people and came back to civilisation.  If you are interested, I wrote a post Paradise, Phones & Phrustration about that retirement.

As soon as we returned I quickly became involved again in the business world which I loved.  Then my DYS died suddenly and I was cast adrift.  I gave my daughter my business and spent time travelling and catching up on old friends.

Fast forward some 13 years.  I now assist a friend in her Real Estate business;  this suits me very well; I know I am not a retiree and this keeps my mind active and my body physically fit.  My friend has gone off to Peru for three weeks and I am looking after the business for her.  As I am not a licensed salesperson I can’t handle any sales but I can discuss properties with clients, can do all the paperwork and generally work behind the scenes.  Well since she left I have been working about 7 or more hours a day, and I have just realised how old I am.  I have always rejoiced in working under pressure and long hours but I had forgotten…..

Today, apart from liaising with the other sales agent who is handling the selling side, chasing up a lease contract, setting up an apartment for rental (including making beds etc), answering queries in her mailbox, providing information to prospective purchasers, dealing with contractors and tenants, it was quite an easy day.  Lunch was taken on the run (but that is often the case) and fortunately my (male) friend helped me in the apartment even taking on the role of laundry maid at one point.  Then to top off the day he made dinner. How lucky am I?

So “retirement” is not all bad. But between all this running around, the sport at the Olympics on the television, and writing my blogs, when will I have time to read the next Charlie Fox novel?

“She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).”
Lewis Carroll,
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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