How long does it take to get used to being retired?

How long does it take to get used to being retired?

By Louise Dwerryhouse

When I told my family physician(fəˈziSHən) I would be retiring(rəˈtī(ə)riNG), he told me it would most likely take me up to two years to adjust to this rite(rīt) of passage. Really? How much adjustment would it take to lead a charmed(CHärmd) life of leisure(ˈleZHər,ˈlēZHər)? To stay up late and get out of bed whenever I felt like it; I had always been a night owl(oul). To read the newspaper at a snail’s(snāl) pace(pās,ˈpäˌCHā,ˈpāˌsē) after breakfast; never to be rushed(rəSHt) again, with only time enough to scan the headlines at the end of a busy day. To take long soaks(sōk) in the tub(təb) each morning instead of my 30-year habit of two-minute showers(ˈSHou(-ə)r). To stop rushing on weekdays or suffering through weekends(ˈwēkˌend) jam-packed(jam-packed) with errands(ˈerənd) and chores(CHôr) I did not have time to do during the week. It sounded like pure bliss(blis) to me. I was looking forward to enjoying every second of what appeared to be a very pleasurable(ˈpleZHərəbəl) stage in life and anticipated(anˈtisəˌpāt) no adjustment period whatsoever.

I couldn’t have been further off the mark. After just a few weeks of retirement, anxiety slowly started creeping into my day. It was pleasant(ˈplezənt) to be able to read the newspaper from front to back, which helped kill time, but what else could I do for the other seven hours, when nothing else was planned? The vastness(ˈvas(t)nəs) of time spread(spred) out in front of me on the horizon(həˈrīzən) like an ominous(ˈämənəs)-looking black lake on a moonless night.

It was only after I signed up for classes and other activities that I discovered I had no aptitude(ˈaptəˌt(y)o͞od) for anything. My attempts at painting were abysmal(əˈbizməl). I painted dreadful(ˈdredfəl) abstract after dreadful abstract. I really tried but discovered even abstract is a bit more difficult to do than one might think. I became discouraged(dəˈskərijd) by my lack of talent(ˈtalənt) and the fact that I couldn’t even master a paint-splattered(ˈspladər) Jackson Pollock knock-off if I tried.

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