I just retired from my “regular” job, the one where I punched in every morning and then punched out at the end of the work day.  Now I am moving on to work for myself.  I will decide what time I wish to start my day.  Planning my ventures on my time schedule, I will decide what to do, in what order, and at what time, working around the things I want to do with my family and friends.

I have retired into freedom.  Now, I have lots of work to do.  But, I will do the work that I have chosen, based on my talents and abilities.  No doubt, I will be working harder than ever before.  The big difference is that I am on a mission.  The mission is my life!  

There will be more time with my husband. And it’s time to be with my Mom as we are growing old together.  I have so much writing to do, songs to sing and projects to perform.  I am energised just thinking about it.  There will be more time to spend with my daughter and grandchildren.  Time is the gift that I have been given.  I must not waste one moment, unless it’s what I want to do.  Then it will be scheduled into my day.

I am reminded of my father who made a list every night before he went to bed.  There were things that had to be done, things that there could be time to do and things that he wanted to do.  And there was always something fun included in every day.

It sounds like I have a blueprint to follow.  And, indeed I do. I am going to make the most of it, enjoy it thoroughly and most of all, thank God who has made it all possible with the many gifts I have been given.  Today really is the first day of the rest of my life!

It was not that long ago, that tweeting was something mostly associated with birds.  Now it is primarily used to type messages/blurbs on the internet.  I was curious about it and went to its website.  I couldn’t figure out why so many people did it.  I decided to do a search on how to tweet. There I found tutorials and guides for setting up an account.  It still didn’t make sense to me as to why people would want to do it.

I am a Facebook user and I love being able to connect with friends and family all over the world.  It has been great to pick up where I left off with people that I have not seen in person for a long time, sometimes years.  They post pictures of their kids and grandkids and I feel like I’m back in the loop of their lives.

With other friends and family that I cannot communicate with in person, I stay involved in their lives, even if only peripherally.  This is incredibly satisfying to me as I am a people person and I treasure relationships in my life.  I crave personal contact with people I like and love.

So, I asked someone, “Why do you use Twitter?”  One colleague told me that she primarily uses it to keep up on the news.  I do remember NPR and other media outlets referring listeners to check out their Twitter site as a way to keep up on all of their news stories.  I had forgotten about that.

Then I recalled a young woman I knew at church who did a workshop on hashtags and how to use them.  Hashtags are an important part of Twitter.  Obviously, I must not have understood how I might use them.  I didn’t pursue it any more after that, as you may have assumed by now.

Finally I turned to my computer’s search engine to ask questions, like “Why do people use Twitter?”  It is amazing how many articles have been written about this subject.  It turns out that there are many reasons people want to tweet, none of which interest me much.  It’s not that I feel superior to “tweeters” either.  I just don’t find that this medium suits me very well.  I’d rather blog.

So I guess I haven’t exactly proven anything other than the fact that tweeting is not for everyone.  I am just a generation or so out of that loop, so to speak.  It seems that for all intents and purposes, in my little corner of the world, tweeting is still mostly for the birds.

Success is a word that has multiple definitions.  In the 21st century, many people think of success in monetary terms or accomplishments.  This is a perfectly valid way to measure one’s success.  However, success can also be found in relationships with people.  If one has rich, meaningful connections with other human beings, if one can be of service to others and share one’s gifts and talents, success can be evaluated by what one can give, as opposed to what one possesses.

The positive aspect of this view is found in the goodwill one feels when giving of oneself.  There is opportunity for internal growth that can only increase as one’s relationships mature, akin to the way money grows when it is invested.  We each have a choice to make as to what rewards we wish to reap.

I used to work in nursing homes and I learned a lot about life.  When one is in the last stages of one’s existence, the things of importance become clear.  One may have a healthy bank account, portfolio and plaques on the wall and that is good.  Others, not having that kind of wealth, may be rich in loving relationships.  In the end, if people do not have people who care deeply for them, the money and trophies may not give the dividends one needs the most.

When one wants to be comforted, things are not capable of giving that to us.  Only people can call and visit us when we are sick or feeling down. The touch of a hand, a loving look, a smile. can mean the difference between contentment and isolation.  It is heartbreaking to see the loneliness I have witnessed.

When people have outlived friends and even family, they still can find joy in others who live around them.  But it is unlikely that one will acquire the ability to connect with others if they have not acquired this skill.

To me, the message is clear.  Whatever you devote your time to, whether it involves people or things, your future will be determined by your values.  Make sure that you consider this before you come to the final chapters of your life.  Then, the book you have written will have the ending you desire.  In the end, only you can decide whether your definition of success has served you well, or not.

I have discovered something in my life that is giving me some peace of mind.  Since I have become a “senior citizen, I am finding that the less I own, the happier I am.  Cleaning house has become more of a detachment from stuff than doing cleaning chores.  I have only begun to purge my residence of the unwanted, unneeded, and just plain, old clutter that surrounds me in my home.

But lately, I have been digging deeper, into my mind.  Guess what I am finding?  More stuff to “get rid of.”  Not only do I have tons of useless information that weighs me down and messes up my thinking, but I am finding negative thought patterns and other “downers” that clog up the workings of my brain.  I may not be able to rid myself of the useless information, but I can certainly work on the negative thought patterns.  But, where do I begin?

Perhaps I should write them down as I think of them and give each of them a category.  Detachment, it seems to me, is recognizing the problem, thing, or idea that is blocking my progress as a truly evolving human being.  Only then, can I begin to rid myself of this destructive behavior.

I know, that in the past, detachment has given me a deep sense of relief, once I recognized the source of my distress.  Maybe it is because we live in such a materialistic world, that there is a such a need to unburden ourselves.  Or maybe, I just think too much, and it’s mostly my thinking that is cluttered.  Either way, detachment has proved to be a very useful tool in my quest for contentment.

So, I think I will begin with a categorized list and parse out the most important ones from the more trivial ones.  Then I will create a “plan of detachment.”  I’ll have to try it out with one or two things and see how it goes.  Either way, if it works out or not, I will have begun my journey to clean my house, inside and out.  This is only step one of the process, and I can’t wait to clear the cobwebs, literally and figuratively in my life!

There is a reason why journaling is therapeutic.  The act of putting feelings into words, where they can be seen on a page, can lessen their emotional impact.  By placing them on paper, they can be viewed as something separate from oneself.  There, they can be examined more easily.

Our feelings belong to us.  We are in control of them, not the other way around.  That is, unless we let them.  The process of writing them down can be a catharsis.  I have experienced this.

Grief is a part of life that challenges every one of us at one time or another.  When one is grieving, one can feel as if things will never be good again. But that need not be true.  Things will never be the same, but goodness is there if one chooses to persevere and keep looking for the positive.

My 21 year old son died suddenly in a car accident.  I was devastated.  But I was determined to heal and find the positive things that were still true.  I had witnessed far too many people who allowed grief to keep them in a state of painful loss, making them bitter in the process.

I began to write, and the feelings flowed out of me.  I discovered all that I had to be thankful for as I wrote of happy memories of the past.  In the process I found that these good memories and the relationship we had could never be taken away from me.  I healed.

Don’t get me wrong.  It was not easy, not even close.  It took time and diligence.   But, I found that there was so much that was worthy of my gratitude.  And I have found that gratitude is truly at the heart of happiness.

Life here is fleeting.  But love never has to die.  I believe that it lives on inside of us long after our loved ones are not physically present anymore.

Writing can also help one get rid of negative feelings.  We need not carry disappointments and resentments around with us.  We can write them out of our lives if we choose to work at it.

I realize that writing will not be enough to heal some wounds.  There are many experiences that I have no clue about.  But I still think that writing can be a valuable tool for many of us.

I do not have all the answers.  I only know my own experiences.  But if one is looking for a way to feel better, this could be helpful.  If one has the will to minister to oneself , this could be the path that will lead to peace.