Space Thoughts…..

I recently read an article about Christina Koch, an American astronaut who made the most of her first trip to the International Space Station by breaking the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, and conducting the first all-female spacewalk with fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. Christina is a North Carolina resident who lives on the east coast of our state and during her interview she mentioned something that made me reflect on something I have talked about before here on this blog. 

She said: “Oh, how I miss the wind on my face, the feeling of raindrops, sand on my feet and the sound of the surf crashing on the Galveston beach,” she said. “We take daily sensory inputs for granted until they are absent…..I cannot wait to feel and hear Earth again.”

Her comments brought me back to reflect on my own journey. As you know, I’ve written several times about how important it is for me to consistently live in the moment and to pay close attention to what’s going on around me at all times. It still surprises me at how difficult this can be, even after trying to practice it for as long as I have, there are still times when I realize how much I take the world in which I live for granted. How easily I can overlook those “sensory inputs” and under-appreciate the brilliance of sunshine on the skin, or the feel of a cool breeze, or getting caught in a summer shower, or an unexpected late winter snowstorm. When I do find myself taking in what’s happening right at that moment it is invariably to look forward to being in a different situation or to think how nice it would be to stay right there in that moment for a long time, both impossible realities. 

We are going through one of our occasional dreary spells of winter weather here in North Carolina. Where the weather seems to not know exactly what season it wants to be in, but it all too often settles on rainy, misty days and almost imperceptibly, I underestimate the effect those days have on my mood, my perception, my gratitude, and my appreciation for the beauty of even these rainy days. That even in these dreary, rainy days there is still nature’s growth, her constant and inevitable movement towards tomorrow, and the amazing beauty of the universe. Christina’s words struck me as quite instructional and once again reinforced for me the need to truly appreciate the world around me, to take each moment, each day as a gift to be savored not coveted, and to never forget that we only get to walk this journey once, it is up to us to make the very best of it as we go! 

You can read the entirety of Christina’s remarkable journey at this link; https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/us/astronaut-christina-koch-spaceflight-record-scn/index.html

Until the next one, Namaste. 

 

Five Years On

So as I just passed the five year mark since I retired from work, I thought it was time to give you a quick update on where I see myself today and how the first five years of this new chapter have played out.

As you’ll recall from my earlier posts I struggled quite a bit at the outset of my retirement. I found it hard to overcome the fact that I was pretty much solely responsible for filling my days and realizing that I wasn’t particularly good at it. I struggled with the feeling that my days appeared unproductive when I couldn’t produce a tangible list of accomplishments at the end of the day. And of course there was the constant struggle with wondering if I’d retired too early and should have stashed more money away for my golden years. I’m pleased to say most of these struggles have gone, or at least eased over time.

I have gradually eliminated my need for a set schedule for each and every day and I’ve become much more comfortable with “going with the flow” and letting the day happen and unfold as it may. I am also much more at home with a day that consists of reading, some mindless tv, exercise and maybe a little meditation; I used to think all of those things were “unproductive”, I see it differently today. Finally the worry of money! I wish I could say it had totally gone away, it hasn’t. It has however become much less impactful on our lives inasmuch as we’ve become better at not allowing money worries get in the way of our plans. We eat out when we want to, we travel to check off some long wished-for bucket list places and to visit family, especially the grandchildren. We’ve found that our budget planning process, which I’ve outlined before, (and you can revisit in the Financial Readiness section of the blog if you’ve subscribed), has really been helpful in getting us where we are today.

It also goes without saying that Diane’s breast cancer last year helped us to realize even more emphatically that life is precious and we must live it to its fullest every day. We do!

Overall I’d say I/we are very happy and satisfied with these first few years and look forward to many more to come. It has become abundantly clear that our most valuable asset, besides each other, is our time. How we spend it, and with whom, we believe will ultimately determine our success in this retirement journey.

As I mentioned earlier, you can revisit some of my posts from back then by checking the side bar of categories listed on the right if you’ve subscribed to my blog, (it’s free).

As always, until the next one, Namaste.