Retirement

I’ve decided to retire. Actually, I made that decision decades ago. I’ve always hoped to live long enough, and save enough bucks, that I could retire someday. That day is near, so long as you realize that the term “near” is relative.

Making the decision when to retire has made all the difference in the world to me. In recent weeks I have been happier than I have been in years, and I can only attribute this to having set a definite retirement date in my mind. Now that I know that the time is finite, I can suffer through anything. Like seeing the finish line at the end of a marathon, I can actually see the end rather than merely conceiving of the end in my mind, and the reality of it makes all the difference in my demeanor.

I will render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s during the remaining months. I will do my duty, but soon my days of servitude will be at an end, and soon enough I will be “free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty I am free at last”. Soon enough all of the work issues that have bedeviled me will be in my past. Not soon, but soon enough to grant me an elusive peace of mind.

You might recall the old adage “Don’t sweat the small stuff “, and the parenthetical adage, “It’s all small stuff”. I’ve become the poster child for the phrase. I’ve taken a virtual chill pill. “This too shall pass” has become my daily mantra. I am approaching the enlightenment achieved by Mad Magazine’s famous fictional character Alfred E. Neuman – “What, me worry?” (I lie, but I’m working on it.)

Written January 2012

Retirement September 2012