Thank you fr putting in words what I am thinking so often about. Reading your essays felt like a beam of light suddenly making everything clearer and my thoughts somehow tidier. There must be so many other women at our age considering this same thing - do we give permission to ourselves to live?
Thank you Izabela for your kind words. I’m so happy that you feel a connection with my writing. I love the idea of ‘a beam of light’ making things clearer.
I also find the writing of others very clarifying and illuminating. Very helpful in processing what is going on in my own mind. Reading others helps me to sort myself out.
And thanks for reminding me of what I wrote here. I needed to reread ‘Permission’ today. A gentle message from the past.
Since my friend died suddenly a few years ago, I have had no problem giving myself permission to start doing what I want with my life. It was a huge wake-up call because she and I are so similar...we were the same age, and she was a massage therapist and a West Coast Swing dancer like me...and if anything, fitter than me with no known health issues.
I vowed right there and then that I was going to start to create a life for my retirement and make it happen within 2 years...I would have done it sooner but my daughter lives in an apartment in my basement and I told her she had 2 years to get her stuff together so she can get a place of her own. She's doing a good job for the most part, but at 40, it's on her to get her life in order. This set-up had worked for us when I was caretaking my father and she was raising my granddaughter and going to college. But my father has passed, and my granddaughter has a couple years and she'll be graduating from high school.
So I've done what I can for them...and now, it's time for me.
Retirement is a big decision. There is actually no perfect time to do it. I would recommend that you spend some time with @Dan Haylett’s writings. There is so much wisdom there. I would have benefited from his thoughts earlier in my retirement process.
I just wrote 2 posts in the last few weeks about The Price of Someday and Life Expectancy vs Healthy Life Expectancy. You may want to read them.
The reality is that by the time most of us retire, odds are we have at least one condition...dodgy knees, diabetes, cancer, etc...to deal with. And it's unlikely that any of those things are going to get much better, at least not without medical intervention. So I encourage people to consider allowing themselves to actually enjoy their final quarter sooner rather than later. Because tomorrow isn't promised, and certainly our health is not promised to last forever.
Thank you fr putting in words what I am thinking so often about. Reading your essays felt like a beam of light suddenly making everything clearer and my thoughts somehow tidier. There must be so many other women at our age considering this same thing - do we give permission to ourselves to live?
Thank you Izabela for your kind words. I’m so happy that you feel a connection with my writing. I love the idea of ‘a beam of light’ making things clearer.
I also find the writing of others very clarifying and illuminating. Very helpful in processing what is going on in my own mind. Reading others helps me to sort myself out.
And thanks for reminding me of what I wrote here. I needed to reread ‘Permission’ today. A gentle message from the past.
Since my friend died suddenly a few years ago, I have had no problem giving myself permission to start doing what I want with my life. It was a huge wake-up call because she and I are so similar...we were the same age, and she was a massage therapist and a West Coast Swing dancer like me...and if anything, fitter than me with no known health issues.
I vowed right there and then that I was going to start to create a life for my retirement and make it happen within 2 years...I would have done it sooner but my daughter lives in an apartment in my basement and I told her she had 2 years to get her stuff together so she can get a place of her own. She's doing a good job for the most part, but at 40, it's on her to get her life in order. This set-up had worked for us when I was caretaking my father and she was raising my granddaughter and going to college. But my father has passed, and my granddaughter has a couple years and she'll be graduating from high school.
So I've done what I can for them...and now, it's time for me.
Yes. It is definitely time for you!
JL - love, love, love. I love your voice. I love your generosity. I love your insights!
Thank you Roberta. That means a lot to me.
I'm having a hard time giving myself permission to retire!
Retirement is a big decision. There is actually no perfect time to do it. I would recommend that you spend some time with @Dan Haylett’s writings. There is so much wisdom there. I would have benefited from his thoughts earlier in my retirement process.
Good luck. You’ve got this!
Thanks! I will take a look!
I just wrote 2 posts in the last few weeks about The Price of Someday and Life Expectancy vs Healthy Life Expectancy. You may want to read them.
The reality is that by the time most of us retire, odds are we have at least one condition...dodgy knees, diabetes, cancer, etc...to deal with. And it's unlikely that any of those things are going to get much better, at least not without medical intervention. So I encourage people to consider allowing themselves to actually enjoy their final quarter sooner rather than later. Because tomorrow isn't promised, and certainly our health is not promised to last forever.
Thanks Pamela. I really appreciated The Cost of Someday. Here is the link if anyone else is looking for it: https://thefrugaltraveler.substack.com/p/the-cost-of-someday