Jun 07 2008
The Joys of Retirement EIGHT - Being Lazy
Joy of Retirement EIGHT - the joy of Being Lazy
is in actuality the joy of guilt-free enjoyment of leisure time. But I know I am not there yet. Most of my life I associated leisure time with ”idle hands” being the “devil’s workshop,” which is another of those concepts instilled in us by our early upbringing in the “church of hard work.”
“We were put on this Earth to work.” If you come from a Norwegian ancestry, you have undoubtedly heard this many times. As for the German ancestry…being organized with every minute of every day properly scheduled seems to be a matter of necessity for good grace.
Well, I am 50/50, Norwegian and German, and there’s never been a lazy moment in my life. How drull. Wait, that’s not even a word. Drab and dull. “All work makes Jack a dull boy.” I don’t think I ever heard that one as a kid. As an adult, I appraised my co-workers based on my childhood standards of work ethic. That was the only ethic I had and the only one that mattered. Therefore, I came to resent those workers who seemed more interested in ”fun-time” and their recreation plans for the weekend than they were in “getting the mission accomplished.” (There’s an example of that military “stuff” that still shadows my life.)
Today, just by saying “I want to enjoy being “lazy,” I get odd looks from my spouse who is still working five days a week. She also spends all weekend working at keeping the house the way she likes it. I don’t fault her for that, but it makes me look and feel like I don’t do my share during the week when I am apparently just “sitting around at home all day.”
I am trying to associate leisure time with the freedom to do things at my own pace; and to a certain extent, to be able to choose what to do and when to do it. I also think leisure time should allow me the freedom to read a book without guilt. In the past I pretty much approached reading a book like it was a job…just another assignment that I need to complete so I can move on to something more important…more “work-like.”
I don’t associate leisure time with “laziness.” There is no excuse for laziness. But I understand the need for some balance in our lives. That’s a word we hear more and more of…particularly during the past twenty years…balance. But there really isn’t a lazy bone in my body. I “too long worked and too little played.”
I’ve watched my Father age into his 80’s with absolutely nothing to do-now that he can’t work. He has no hobbies and really no interest in anything going on around him. I’ve noticed during the past ten years or so that his interest in the lives of his children and grandchildren also diminished.
I am still working on the adjustment from career to retirement. It is an entirely new lifestyle for me. I am still learning about “letting go” and relaxing. It may be possible that the pendulum will swing too far in the opposite direction and I will not bother to get dressed or shower in the morning; but, I don’t really expect that to happen.
I know there should be a lot of joy in retirement. After all, I worked toward this day all my life. Now I am here and I want to enjoy it. Without guilt.
