2000 Hours

All that free time???

It is estimated that when you retire you suddenly have about 2000 hours a year free.  Those are the hours that you used to spend working full time.  This of course is a rough estimate for many people may have spent fewer or more hours depending on where they were working.  No wonder, people worry about getting bored--that's a lot of time to fill.

I have to admit, I still don't seem to have enough hours in the day. Yet in the next breath I would  say that my time is much less rushed and pressured than when I was working.  I feel short of time only because I am busy and I like it that way.

This morning at yoga class, the instructor was posing questions during our cool down or reflective time, asking us to consider what makes us get up in the morning.  What made us get up that morning?  For me it is because I have things I want to do or someplace to go. It's also because I need to be ready to do whatever comes up.

This morning, I wanted to get a few things accomplished before I left for yoga.  I needed to make a marinade for the chicken I was cooking for supper, I wanted the house neat and chores finished.  I wanted coffee while I did my French lesson on Duolingo and caught up on email before I left the house. After my yoga class, I wanted to be able to spend the afternoon on something I like to do.  I was thinking of finishing a knitting pattern and spray painting a couple of items for a DYI project or maybe blogging for the afternoon.

As it turned out, the wind, or rather the first day of winter melting, took me for a long snow shoe trek through fields and forest and then a long walk down the road in my heavy winter boots. It was glorious to be outside in the sunshine, my coat unzipped and carrying my mitts in my hand soaking up vitamin D.  Snow shoeing is a great way to get really warm! This trek was totally unplanned. It was a spontaneous response to the warmth of the day and the realization that there may be a limited number of days remaining to snow shoe.  Ahh, the promise of spring.

The best days are when I have one or two things that are calling to me to get done and then a plan for one or two that will be just for fun.  And the very best days are like today when I have plans for things to do but the chance to drop it all to do something spontaneous.

Since I've retired, I have been very diligent about getting out of bed whenever I wake up. I am waking up naturally because my body has had enough sleep not because of an alarm clock, so there is no point in lying around. Sometimes I might make coffee and then read for a bit in bed because that is something I love to do but I always make sure I am up and doing something else within the hour.  I have found that staying in bed with nothing to do just puts me in a bad mood or dampens my day. Likewise, I have been careful about the time sucks; social media, watching t.v. during the day, and email.

After all I only have 2000 hours to fill, I better get busy enjoying them.