I want-and I expect most people want-is to stay involved in a life of our own choosing. It is the pandemic that prompted us to experience a slow awareness of time on our hands or a lightning flash of awareness about where we are as opposed to where we want to be.

More time at home has given us time with ourselves and/or our immediate family.  We need to look at this time as an opportunity-an opportunity to think about where we are, what we want to be doing, and don't want to be doing.  We might not have had so much time, especially not all at once, as most of us have had - and may still have.  It is an advantage to have time to peruse where we are, where we are headed, and where we want to go!

Did I know retirement is not my goal?  Oh yes.  Do I understand the relief people feel when they can put down the mantle of regular work?  I do.  But to think "unemployed" or "retired" or "alone" suggests an ending, when it can and should be a beginning.  We need to realize this opportunity to be able to take advantage of it.


Those of us who have an avocation or a passionate hobby or a cause may become busier than ever.  Those who come alive with their careers may decide not to retire. Others may have waited most of their lives for time to decide what they want to do and realize that time has come. Some of us will do something we never took enough time to accomplish, such as finishing a book, whether it involves writing it or reading it, or teaching others to read and write.

What we can all hope for is time to realize we have choices and the ability to make those choices and not wait for "something to happen." Let's stay involved in what we want in our own lives.
Right now is the time to think, feel, and finally begin to do whatever it is in this life that makes us able to stay involved.