Happy New Year and I Need a New Obsession

I just celebrated my second anniversary of being retired.  I am now officially into my third year of retirement.

Yes, retirement really is everything it's cracked up to be.

A fellow retiree, Annette, recently commented on one of my older posts, that when people ask her what she does now that she's retired, she tells them, "Anything I want."  How true.  But that's the trick with being happily retired, figuring out exactly what that anything is.

The first year of my retirement I was so overwhelmed by choices that I often felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything.  If I was enjoying myself reading, blogging or hanging out with friends, that meant I wasn't painting my bathroom, learning to play the piano, or cleaning out my closets.  If I was going to the movies, I wasn't working out.  If I was gardening, I wasn't cleaning the house.  How does anyone figure out what to do next when you get to do anything you want?

That is the problem.

So the second year I got an obsession.  That worked.  I was obsessed with travel.  I spent hours feeding this obsession, figuring how to get the maximum amount of travel while staying within the confines of the travel budget.  By exchanging houses we spent a month in Manhattan, a week in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, and a weekend in Monterey.  We enjoyed a pet-sitting vacation for friends in Los Angeles and later accompanied them on their luxurious trip to Tahoe.  We even splurged for actual hotels in Santa Barbara and Las Vegas.

All told we were gone for almost three months this year, and without using even half of the travel budget.  Compare that to only three weeks of allotted travel time when I was still working, and at more than double the cost.

So now that I'm ready to spend a few more nights sleeping in my own bed, I need a new obsession.  So I'm faced with the same problem I faced when I first retired.  Too many choices.  Since it turns out to be a myth that you will miraculously be in the best shape of your life when you retire, perhaps I should focus on a new extreme fitness program?  Or maybe I should get that piano tuned and spend time tuning up my old skills?  Or maybe, immerse myself in a foreign language and work on an international home-exchange?   What about getting involved with some worthy charitable organization?  Tennis, painting, writing, sewing, singing, boot-camp, the possibilities are endless.

If I've learned anything in these first two years, it's that there are still only 24 hours in a day.  You can't possibly do every single thing that you want to do and do it right now.   You're pretty much limited to one thing at a time.

And following that advice of most retirement books, making that list of everything you want to do in retirement, doesn't help at all to answer the big question.  Which thing to pick next?

Comments

[Steve Skinner]

I agree that in retirement there are way too many choices! I often find that the most difficult thing is maintaining focus on one thing at a time.

[Retired Syd]

@Steve: So perhaps it's not adult-onset ADD, huh?

[Jay Horowitz - Our Take On Freedom]

First off, welcome back! Thought you'd gone missing!

Second, I've only been "mini-retired" for a few weeks, but can completely sympathize with your feelings. Over the last month or so, Amy and I have accomplished so much that we've dreamed of. Taking a nap when you feel like it is wonderful, scuba diving is an awe-inspiring experience, and we've actually managed to hit the gym more than we expected.

At the same time, there is so much on our lists that we constantly feel like we're ignoring. Maybe it's time for an obsession!

Or maybe it's just way too early for us in this game to figure out what's its "time for" :-)

Finally, it's simply fantastic that this is one of your concerns! Keep us in the loop!

[Sara]

Syd...I vote for continuing your travel obsession. You are NOT finished!!!

[Cindy Maxwell]

I found my obsession two weeks into my retirement when I joined a local bike ride. I'd ridden my bike off and on for several years but I was never a regular rider. Now I proudly wear my bright-colored lycra and have a blast pedaling down the street and drinking coffee with my new bicycling friends. By joining the bike club I gained a schedule and confidence that with comes with mastering a new skill. On top of all that, I lost 20 pounds and I've never been so fit in all my life! I keep finding new challenges, some related to bicycling and some not. Retirement is fabulous. Darn, two weeks from now, I start a temporary job to help pay for future travel. It's a new obsession. Sounds like you understand that one.

[Art]

I vote learning a new language and doing international exchanges OR charity work :)