I get out of bed at 7:00 a.m. instead of 4:45 a.m. Instead of driving 30 miles one way to work, I don’t go anywhere unless I want to. I am home alone most days instead of in a public high school with 1500 people. In the evenings, I can do whatever I want instead of grade papers or plan lessons. I can even stay up late watching a movie. When I read the newspaper, I read for personal information instead of cutting out relevant articles to instruct my business/marketing students. I can see friends and family, go to the store or do housework when I want, instead of just on the weekends or during school holidays. I have a sign in my home’s entryway which reads,
“I don’t want to.
I don’t have to.
You can’t make me.
I’m retired.”
Retirement is a different life. A life I entered into June 1, 2015 and one I have had difficulty adjusting to.
In The Retirement Maze: What You Should Know Before and After You Retire, the authors would say I am experiencing one of the “…four phases that deal directly and specifically with retirement adjustment: 1. The Honeymoon, 2. Disenchantment, 3. Reorientation, 4. Stability.” One year after receiving a glass retirement clock from my employer, I believe I am living in the reorientation phase of retirement.