Balance

 

As some may recall from an earlier post, I am working on not managing Joe Coehlo now that I am retired. He claims he doesn’t mind as sometimes certain activities need managing. Like insurance. He’s most appreciative when I complete all the forms. I am working at offering to do things he normally does on his own and when he refuses my help to let it go.

On Monday he told me he was going to travel to Milpitas  to talk with a machine shop about making parts for his employer. I offered to go with him, and he told me he thought it would be a wasted day for me. I insisted it wouldn’t be. That I was happy to go to keep him company and with the weather forecast I’d feel better if he was not on the road by himself.

Then last night as we were dozing off, he asked me what I had planned for my Wednesday and I told him a load of laundry, pack at least three more boxes, make chicken soup, hypnotherapy, budget review, and whatever else came up. His response, “I hate to ask, would you go to the Bay Area with me tomorrow?” I was all over that like cheese on pizza.

We had a pleasant drive this morning. With storm warnings and strong wind, the traffic was light all the way there and back. People were driving cautiously, and I felt better knowing I could lend an extra set of eyes. Once we arrived, Joe went into the shop and I stayed in the car (he had offered to drop me at a coffee shop – I prefer all of the quiet of the car) and meditated, did 30 minutes of hypnotherapy, ate my lunch (protein bar, banana and some pistachios), napped, followed the House of Representatives Speaker of the House voting, looked at Facebook, and played a game on my phone.  I had almost three hours of quiet time and it was AMAZING. I also had 4 hours of Joe Coehlo time on the trip down and the trip back. Double win for me.

I think what I may like best about retirement, so far, is flexibility. As someone who has  consistently put responsibilities before pleasure, it felt nice to drop everything I had planned for today to travel with Joe. I was relaxed. I am way ahead on packing up the house (I started back in September) and leaving a load of laundry for another day is no big deal. I put the chicken soup in the crockpot when we got home (the smell is delectable).

My intention is to find balance which is why I loved this meme floating around on Facebook: