I am very thankful to be retired and able to pursue things that I have always wanted to do – like this blog. There is less pressure for me now because my schedule is more flexible. Life is a little gentler and more enjoyable. Retirement is a great part of getting older! Nevertheless there are challenges, and one of those is summed up in the question, “What am I going to do today?”
Retirement allows us more freedom to set our own schedule each day. Although we may still have the same life-responsibilities that we had before, our obligation for that 8-10 hour period of our day is up-for-grabs. We can choose how we are going to fill that time.
I know that lots of people are more disciplined than I, and they can fill all those hours with lots of activities. But I notice that I can lose time fairly effortlessly. Even when I’m busy all day, it seems like I don’t accomplish as much as I used to. In addition, I can find myself spinning my wheels. Without a definite plan for the day, I can wander around trying to figure out what I should be doing, then all of a sudden, it’s time for dinner. In either case, I seem to have misplaced some hours of my day. And I have no idea what happened to them!
I’m a firm believer that time is a precious commodity and I really hate wasting it, but it seems like hours can escape from me. They seem to disappear without a trace! And the same is true of days, weeks, months, and years. Have you ever talked to a faraway friend on the phone, and agreed to talk again soon? Then the next thing you know, months have passed, and you haven’t talked. You haven’t forgotten, you’ve been thinking about them, but time just seemed to get away from you. Have you ever noticed that you celebrate New Year’s Day and before you know it’s time to prepare for Christmas? Years can fly by in the blink of an eye!
Speaking of Christmas, it comes at the same time every year. We know this. And since the stores are full of Christmas decorations before Halloween, Christmas is vividly brought to our attention in more than enough time to prepare for it. But what happens every year? Preparing in October is much too early. Beginning in November is reasonable, but Thanksgiving is the priority. So that leaves us with December- 24 days to prepare. And what happens? Christmas day arrives and we are not ready! Happens to me every year!
Our use of time is divided into two categories, what we need to do, and what we want to do. Think about it, those are basically the only choices we make regarding our time. Demands are placed on us, and those are the things that we need to do. However, we can choose to shirk those responsibilities because we want to do something else. We must make the choice of doing what we need to do or what want to do. Maybe we have plans to do something that we want to do, and something that we need to do comes up. Again, we must choose. Bottom line is, there are only two choices – doing what we need to do or doing what we want to do.
Now, there are ways to make those choices less onerous. The first key is learning to WANT to do what we need to do. For instance, jobs are necessary in order to have income. Income is necessary to function in the world. So, jobs are things that we NEED to do. But can we learn to want to work? Absolutely! Jobs can provide much more than just income. They can teach us skills, they can provide satisfying challenges, they can be a source of social gratification. If this is our attitude toward our jobs, we will want to do them.
Chores are another thing that we need to do. Taking care of our family, cleaning our house, maintaining our surroundings all are things that we need to do. Do we want to do them? Well, we love our family, we take pride in our homes and our surroundings. So yes, we can want to do these things. We want the best for our families and that includes doing what we need to do to provide for them.
The next key is to have the desire and willingness to do what we need to do when it’s necessary before we do the things that we want to do. Of course, we understand that jobs fit into this category, but there are many more things that we could consider. Maybe we want a garden. Are we willing to do all the work required to tend it? How about a pet? Lots of parents can relate to that one! How about losing weight? Are we willing to make the changes required? I think if we are honest, we will find that many of the things that we WANT to do require that the needful things be done first. And when we recognize that, we can accept that the things we need to do are a means to a desired end, and that encourages us to want to do them.
The third key is reminding ourselves of what we REALLY want in our lives. I know lots of people who never stop moving. They are ambitious and industrious. I admire them. But I must admit that I am not one of them. I tend to be lazy. I fight it, but the tendency is there. I have to push myself to do the things that I need to do, and sometimes even the things that I want to do. When this happens, I remind myself of the kind of person that I truly WANT to be. I want to be a good example of being a Christian. I want to be successful. I want to do the right things. I want to help people. I want to go to bed at night with a sense of a day well spent.
We will have none of those things without doing the things that we need to do and being able to enjoy the things that we want to do. Sometimes we may need to push ourselves beyond our comfort zones to do things that must be done, and we may have to work our minds to find joy doing those things that are demanded of us. We may need to change our minds! But when we do that, we will find that the things we need to do can bless and fulfill us and thus become an enjoyable part of our lives.
The conclusion of the matter is this. When we ask ourselves, “What am I going to today?”, the answer is, “My best.” In doing that, we can be satisfied and successful. We can be content and assured that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing. We can do the things that we need to do and the things that we want to do, and have plenty of time for both.
In everything you do today, you can glorify God. The Bible says so. What could be better than that?
Note to my readers: Enjoy doing all the things that you want and need to do today! Thanks for reading.