The first day

Today is officially the first day of my retirement.  There, I said it.

Retirement - it is a word charged with lots of emotions.  Especially for someone who has worked at the same job for 34 years, the same profession for 36 years.  Retirement has to do with pulling back - I don't do that easily.  Retirement has to do with easing up - yep, that's not me, either.

So, what will it mean for me?  I think it means new beginnings, but with the same passions, the same energy.  (Well, maybe not the exact same amount of energy - I am 36 years older than when I started this profession.....)  I think it means time.  Time to do things that I have had to pass by, to say "maybe later," or "not yet."

It's later, it's "yet."  Perhaps I will not use the word retirement, but rather I'll say "Today is officially the first day that I begin my shift of focus.  Today, I begin saying yes, stopping rather than passing by, saying "now," not later.

Yep - Today I start shifting my focus.