What next?

For 3 years I have luxuriated in the ultimate of free time, many days not even needing to know what day it was when I got up. When people ask “How do you like retirement?” I immediately reply “I love it. What’s not to like?”

But I have recently come to see that free time is not a nirvana, that I’ve finally reached that point where I want more from life than another day of ease. My husband noted my lethargy on days when nothing is scheduled, when all I have plans for is exercise, reading, and playing the piano.

So I’m going to try over the course of the next few posts to figure out what I might do to change this situation. I welcome the input of anyone reading this, whether you have gone through retirement yourself or whether you just have an idea or two.

Here are some givens:

(1) I don’t really need additional income beyond my government annuity. But it would be nice to have so that we could do things like have the house painted without feeling guilty about spending all that money.
(2) I would like to do something that leaves someone or the world in a better state.
(3) My strengths are in planning, organizing, researching, making things, and at one point I was a good (computer) system designer.
(4) I love children, but don’t know that I would love teaching.
(5) I love animals even more.
(6) I love to write, but never saw myself as a professional writer.
(7) I don’t want to work alone, preferring a lot of interaction with well-intentioned or competent people (or both).
(8) I have a pretty high tolerance for most annoyances, including annoying people.
(9) I have a low tolerance for unnecessary bureaucracy.
(10) I (selfishly) want people to notice what I do and tell me I did a good job.

Put on your thinking cap. I hope you come up with something better than the result of my 8th grade multiple-choice career exploration that determined I should be a tree surgeon.

Stay tuned to more thoughts in the next few days as I think on these things.