That all resonates with me, Northstar, except the "stress-free" part. On balance I have had more stress ever since I stopped working at a full-time job than I had at that job.
The biggest art to master on this planet is the art of retirement...it takes a a great deal of mental dexterity...IMHO. And the only time that we can reach the ultimate summit, apotheosis, is in the afterlife.
But before that, it is possible to reach a verisimilitude...in particular when we practice day-to-day (one day @ a time) living.
Use/put all our energy into our passion(s), and let no one distract us (the toughest part). It takes big sacrificing above our own comprehension and the ones from others.
It is feasible...but not 24 hours a day, 365 a year. Our mind has to be extremely strong...and we have to rise above all outside (human) influences. ...I very think so, more now than ever. ...As yesterday is gone and as tomorrow will take care of all itself without us pushing it towards it.
That's my own vision and practice in life myself...the rewards are enormous...total liberation...but the downfalls have just the total opposite results...extreme depression.
And that's why we cannot let anyone interfere in the way we want to retire (it's our life, our surroundings, our people we live with), even more so than during all our working years.
Life depends more on how we relax than how we stress.
Some friends suggested to me; Robert write. I am.
Ron, I loved my job when I was working...it was like dancing with nature.
Now I dance even more in harmony with it...closer. What our eyes are seeing and our ears are hearing are our passage-way to full retirement mode...stress-free...if we put our mind naturally into it, without trying and without working on it. It sounds weird and that's one secret in doing what we love to do the most...and for free (no paycheck)...for only our true freedom and wisdom, personal guaranteed satisfaction.
Most people cannot; they have to keep working, keep busy physically...they cannot keep busy mentally without losing it.
But look @ people like Einstein and the rest of the gang...the greatest scientists in the course of Earth's history from the very beginning of times.
My philosophy: We are who we think we are, and we can accomplish anything that our mind wishes for...even total fulfillment into retirement time in our own space.
And that, is a personal adventure for each one of us...the greatest adventure of them all because everything behind is already gone.
Time is infinite, space is defined by the universe's own boundaries, only In The Now is real ... and the ahead reach of that moment.
I know, for 99% of the population it totally sounds crazy...and that, is the biggest challenge...to rise above it all...even from our own conventional thinking and even more so from the conventional thinking of everyone else.
Let me ask you this Ron: In which moment(s) are you the most relax/free/@ ease with yourself and the rest of the world...in that ultimate comfort zone?
Then just practice it all the time in your retirement time...even when you're still working. I truly believe that...and to do it freely, by your own choice and not from obligations and all that stuff jazz.
Hey, you like Opera music? ...Me I do and when I listen to it I'm all alright. ...And I don't think about tomorrow and yesterday, I'm in the Now and in the Matter.
Be happy, with what you don't have, and have no desire to acquire it. ...But mostly, be proud and happy of who you are and in your search of perfecting yourself. Communicate with all people from all backgrounds, and give yourself freely 100% to all and everything.
It's not what we have, it's who we are. ...Who am I? Anything, anything @ all that I truly want to be in all my heart, soul and mind.
Anything else is just cheap whiskey, superficial, without existence, without solid foundation. If we think that we are somebody important because we have an important job, a nice big home, many nice toys, a beautiful looking wife and children, a big bank account, ...that we are smarter than the rest...there are some disappointing news for us @ the end of that tunnel. We are only as best as we remain calm @ understanding the world that we all live in, including ourselves.
The toughest part in life is...the retirement time. And the best time is the retirement time. So the best is the toughest of the toughest from all the rest.
It's a humorous way of speech. :b
