Ha ha ha ha ha … funny how that works (the house cleaning part).

I have been very lucky to have my husband remind me daily that I have earned the right to be lazy – or what I call “a slug” on some days. Still, just yesterday I felt a twinge of guilt for not being more productive. Then I sat outside, pulled out some pencils and a coloring book, and turned on my audiobook. About an hour later the elk came through, munching their way through the forest. It was glorious.

Like you, I am not bored or lonely at all. Just a tad guilty because society expects me to WANT to be a social butterfly 24/7 and I am simply not wired that way.

Anyway, thanks for checking in and reminding me that I have some wonderful online friends!

My husband followed the same path as you and retired at 52 while I continued along my own career paths. He has been a fantastic house spouse! I was very ambitious and thought I would want to work forever but then I started to get tired. I gave up my accounting practice first and then, as you know, Backdoor Survival. It was difficult and as I wrote in this article, some days I still struggle.

One thing that I have done with Strategic Living is to write for the joy of it, when and if serendipity strikes. And also if I have something worthwhile to say. An issue with many blogs these days (in my opinion) is the pressure to blog frequently in order to keep the ad revenue going. Since Strategic has no ads other than the occasional Amazon and Spark Naturals links, I don’t have that pressure.

Anyway, thanks for checking in and reminding me to by joyful and not stressed.

I’ll be 60 in a few months but have been retired for 8 years. It was a choice to follow my wife’s career path rather than mine. It has worked out well for us, thanks in part to our move to an area similar to yours. We’re in southwestern New Mexico near Silver City. We LOVE it here.

While she works in retail, I have become a househusband and some time blogger. I have recently embarked on an old passion that I never had the opportunity to pursue. It may turn into a business opportunity. Even if the primary aspect doesn’t pan out, I’ve discovered a potential product line that might. I’ve been called a technogeek for many years and I may be venturing into a more artistic avenue of my life. Now THAT’s a scary thought!

Like so many others, I look forward to every email from you. I followed Backdoor for a long time and now prefer to see Strategic in my inbox.

I wish you the best on your journey. Always remember the stresses are minimized by the joys of just being you.

It’s always appreciated when a link to one of your missives shows up in my inbox. I very much miss your previous publishing schedule and reports on your adventures in prepping. I think many of us do.

We retired at about the same time last year. My biggest problem was all the research my husband had done on “what to expect in retirement.”

“No, dear, I do NOT want to run right out and volunteer and sign up for special interest groups and take classes and make lots of new friends. No, I am not bored and lonely just because I spend my days alone. I put up with too many yammering idiots for too many years not to appreciate the quiet peacefulness of listening to my own thoughts waft through my brain. I’m enjoying catching up on my reading. I like being able to stay up until 3 in the morning playing a computer game and to take a nap in the afternoon if it feels right. The new friends I’ve made live in my computer, but why should that surprise you? I met YOU online and that seems to be working out all right. I’ll let you know when I’m ready for my next big adventure.”

**sigh**

You’re totally on the money about the broken connections between Life Before and Life After, but I was prepared for that. We’d been bracing for a possible drop in income, but it turns out to have been negligible. That could change at any time, of course, and I keep an eye on the headlines for possible cliffs ahead on the journey. In the meantime, we’re paying down debt and trying to be conservative in our spending. The older I get, the less I seem to want or need anyway. My “been-theres, done thats” are volunteering and various classes. The hub wants to travel, but we’re still constrained by his work schedule and will be for many years to come. Just because life gets simpler doesn’t mean it’s free of speed bumps.

I concur with your “you have to do what’s right for YOU” sentiment. But hasn’t that always been the case? I wish you many more successful years in charting your new course.

Nicole