THE question

On February 8th, it will be a year that I am retired.

THE question I get asked the most: " But aren't you bored? You are so young and your husband is still working..."

THE answer:  NO! Not at all!!!

I am not bored...  How could I be?

Quite frankly, when I decided to stop working because we could afford it, I was a little scared. Even if I had wanted that for almost 5 years.  I was only 45 and ever since I had been 8 years old, I have had quite a busy schedule!!!

I started having busy days quite young - maybe around 8 or 9.  I will not go into details with my schedule, it might bore you, but between private school with lots of homework and many, many hours of figure skating, I was basically left with Saturday and Sunday afternoon to myself. Summer were a little less busy but I was still figure skating every night of the week!

Then I turned 16 and added work to this already busy schedule.  Then University...  and "adulting"!

Working full time, owning a house, having a kid and all the "normal" stuff.

It seems like I never really took a breath before I got laid off at the age of 34! Then on and off work as my job was the kind of job that are permanent on paper but always the first one to be laid off.  No one wants to pay for training...  even though they all know it is pretty huge requirement for efficacy - and a requirement in most places!

Every time I would be laid off, I would enjoy unemployment SO MUCH!!!  Seeing all the possibilities... all the open doors!  BREATHING!!! Until reality stroke and we needed money! So I would go back to work!

The last time my contract ended (October 31st 2013), I swore to myself I would not go back to work full time in a cubicle... not even in an nice office with a door! I would do anything not to have to do that. I had no idea how I could do that but my husband and I talked about it and figured it out!  Slowly but surely...  Yes, I had to go back to work, but never to an office!  Never full time.  This is when I learned to be a barista and a waitress. Two jobs I never had before, not even as a teenager.  I enjoyed both those positions very much.

Working part time was already a blessing...  and in a job where you clock in and out!  Wow!  What a relief!  No responsibilities, not work to be done at home, no deadline to meet. I could SLEEP! I could BREATHE!  And I have discovered life...  discovered the joy of being able to enjoy a snowstorm with my son while eating freshly baked cookies... and watching a movie at 11am on a Tuesday - because there is nothing else that needs to be done really! Discovered how time spend at supper can be relaxing and an amazing connecting opportunity with my son and husband when it can be just that: supper! How not having to multitask to take care of the home, the laundry, the food, the shopping makes each and every of those tasks more enjoyable! How time with my love is more meaningful when doing things other than splitting chores all the time.

Mindfulness.  In everything.  All the time.  Breathing.  It was possible!  Still needed to stop the hamsters up there in my brain but worked on it.

And with a little more work on our finances and our "needs", we became "rich" and I could afford to stop working completely.

I was so EXITED!!!  But I had no idea what was awaiting me.

It has been what I expected and so much more...

I though I was breathing already. I thought I was mindful.  I thought I was sleeping well.

Well it was nothing compared to now!

Over the last year, I have learned to appreciate each minute of the day, each seasons for what they are.  I have had time to watch numerous sunrises and sunsets, clouds in the sky, stars, and moon cycles... I have enjoyed the life coming back in the spring by actually seeing the buds open up into leaves slowly, every single day changing a little... and then those very same leaves change color and fall...  I have seen rain and sun, snow and ice... I have learned to just observe the birds and the trees... the changing shape of a cloud... the pattern of nature, be it daily or seasonal.  It is an amazing dance... with everything happening at the right time and for the right reasons...  it is all intertwined.  Perfectly.

I have discovered that us too, as Human, have different needs in sleep and food as the season changes... but unfortunately, when we are in the rat race to success, we cannot acknowledge those and our health and well being suffer from this.

It has brought me closer to nature. We are all part of the same nature, the same planet.  We can feel so disconnected at times in our busy life... as if there were Humans and Nature.  Whereas Humans are part of Nature.

The sentence "Nothing you do really matters but everything does" has a whole new meaning to me.  I get it now.

By deepening my mindfulness, by increasing my meditation and yoga practice I have become more connected to my own body and mind and as a result to nature in general. My "need" and my "wants" are fewer than ever. I am quite content with hearing a bird sing, looking at a rainfall or a snowflake .

By reading a lot more, I have more knowledge and more and more connections are being made in my brain between different subject and it changed my perspective on life in general, but more importantly my perspective on my life. It changes my interaction to my surrounding and my environment.  It affects every decision I make...  I am more aware of how anything has an impact on everything.

The flap of a butterfly wing in the East can cause a hurricane in the West.  And so much more.

It has made me a better Human.  More aware of the impact of everyone of my actions... big or small.

All this time as allowed me to figure out who I was deep down. It was more in some ways and so much less in others.  It was interesting.  It was scary.  It was the best thing that ever happened to me.

And now, I can keep on going... I have no time for, nor any desire to go back to work.  Life is so much more than work when you can afford it and are willing to do it. I still am working on myself.  Is it the project of a lifetime.  I am grateful to be able to do it.

My days are neither long, nor boring.  I wake up, do meditation, yoga, have a small breakfast and go for a walk.  Upon my return I have tea and write or read.  Then my husband gets up (he works overnight), and we enjoy an afternoon together - going for a walk or a coffee, reading talking, making plans, going to the library or grocery shopping.  I make supper and then we eat and he goes to work.  The rest of my evening I knit, read and watch Netflix (a little too much but I am working on it!). Chores are done in between all of this...  and it just flows. Effortlessly...

I am not going back to work. And I am not getting bored.  There are still so many things I wish to do, learn...

Life is SHORT!
Enjoy it as much as you can...
Even if you can just cut your hours... or change job!
There is more to life then making money!

Are you thinking about early retirement?
Would you stop working if you could?
What do you have to do for it to happen if this is what you truly want?

if you liked what you read, please share.

Chloe 💜&✌