Q - Why aren't you retired?
A - I didn't plan well enough.
Q - How did my son retire then?
A - He stayed at the same job throughout his career. I quit my job with benefits and became a daycare provider with no benefits and no pension.
Q - Why didn't you just keep on putting money aside then?
A - I was just managing to pay the bills. There was not enough left over.
Q - How long are you going to work?
A - Until I'm at least 65 unless my job situation is taken out of my hands.
Q - Why don't you retire now?
A - What in the world would I do with my time? I may as well work.
Q - What do you do with your time now?
A - I waste time like nobody's business. I hate to think what I would do if I didn't have to work.
Q - But what do you DO?
A - I do puzzles, I read, I write, I do my banking and play with my finances, I follow where my curiosity leads and lose track of time.
Q - What's wrong with that?
A - Hmmmm .....
I have spent the past few mornings lost in the questions:
Q - How much has accepting and issuing life's invitations cost me the past few years?
A - Last year - about $3,000; the year before that (a year where I issued as many invitations as I accepted) - closer to $5,000
Revelation - The word "yes" is expensive
Q - Could I afford to retire if the bottom fell out of my employment income?
A - No
Q - Where did my inheritance go?
A - It went exactly where it needed to go. No regrets. But I'm still not quite set up to retire.
Q - What WOULD I do if I was retired?
A - I have sooooo many things I would like to do around here. First, I would sort through paperwork, memories and pictures.
When I felt I had some semblance of order in all of the above, I would sit down with my letters to Mom and her letters to me. I would sort them into date and conversational order. I would cull the highlights and create a collage of "Dear Mom" letters and Mom's responses.
What would I do if I was retired? I believe I would sit still with what I have and create order out of the papers, memories, pictures and letters I have collected.
Back to my aunt's question:
Q - What's wrong with that?
A - Hmmmm .....
Revelation: I am grateful for the repetitive nature of our conversations. It reminds me to remember what I have is good and maybe wasting time like nobody's business today means I am planting seeds for tomorrow.
What seeds are you unknowingly planting today? What small, repetitive actions/conversations/thoughts are reminding you to think and rethink your fate? What question triggers your curiosity and subconsciously sets your thoughts in motion?
Lose yourself in those thoughts and see where they take you.
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