I decided just to write just this one post this week. I am just too busy to write two right now. Busyness seems to be an ongoing theme of my retirement – especially in the summer months.
Last week, I had lunch with a friend who he is getting close to retirement and he honestly could not believe that he will likely be more busy working than he is working. Yet, almost every retired person I talk to is in that situation.
I had some big goals / themes organized for this summer, but am having to make some tradeoffs …
- Learn: America 250 History / Revolutionary War
- Refresh: MN Home Landscaping / Bedroom Suite
- Health: New Doctors / 60 Year-Old-Health Check-Ups
- Cruise: Get To Know New Corvette / Car Stuff
- Swing: New golf Clubs / TopGolf / “Fix” Swing
- Strengthen: Pickleball / Tennis Game
- Summer Fun: Concerts / Bikes & Brews / Field Trips
Overall, I’m making good progress on the first 5 items on my list, but falling behind on the last two.
I haven’t played pickleball in a few weeks now and my game was good, but not improving much. Similarly, I’ve taken two (actually 2.5) America 250 trips so far this year, but that’s gotten in the way of some traditional Summer Fun – especially local “field trips” (to museums, small towns, state parks).
I’m fine with the tradeoffs, but I do feel especially busy most of the time. Now with America 250 over, most of our landscaping projects due to be completed in the next week, and my big Doctor appointments over, maybe I can maybe close out the summer strong. Still we have some new activities also starting … and a trip planned to Iceland & Ireland that I need to organize details for.
How is your summer going? Too many balls in the air? What’s coming off the list?
Image: ChatGPT AI
MrFireStation 
I used to allow myself to get overwhelmed with what I need or want to do and would wait AKA procrastinate until I had the time. The Japanese have a concept called kaizen, which is to focus on making small consistent changes every day. Over time you will see massive results.
Here is an example. My son and I have been working to clean our property of the burned brush and trees from the Palisades Fire eighteen months ago. I rented a three-yard dumpster like offices and apartments have. It takes about two hours to fill it once a week. We are almost at the end.
Take an hour or two to chip away at something on your list every day. You will be amazed at what you have accomplished when you look back a couple months later.
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Agree – I usually have a list of “themes” in my head each season of the year. As you can see from this post, it is almost all fun stuff.
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