Just to be clear - rain never really bothered me. In fact, a good rainy day is welcome once in a while. It gets me focused on house cleaning and it is nature's blessing to keep all things alive.
Now Mondays, that is a different story. For years I have struggled with Mondays. First day of the work week. The dread of knowing I had five days in a row of reporting at a certain time and being figuratively "chained to a desk" for eight or more hours. But Mondays now are the equivalent to a Saturday, which once held the crown of "favorite day of the week".
My retirement was official at 12:01am, but I started the prep work on Saturday. It was my first day back to the YMCA. They are probably sad that after collecting my monthly dues for the past several years, I am now actually showing up and taking up space. On Sunday, I tried my first yoga class. I survived it. I will admit after the first 15 minutes, I was planning my escape route convinced I would not make the additional hour of class I had left. But I committed to at least trying. After several attempts of holding a pose on one foot with my eyes closed (yeah, go ahead and laugh), holding one leg in the air while bent over with a straight back, and keeping my arms in the air for what seemed like a lifetime, I was toast.
And then, we moved to the floor. Though tempted to remain in child's pose for the rest of the class, I kept up with the full series of stretching, breathing and meditating on how my body was feeling. I was shocked when I realized time was up and I immediately checked the schedule to see when I could do it again.
Retirement is the big payoff after years of diligent working. But it is also the entry into "no more excuses" land. The time is now to focus on being healthy, spending quality time with family and enjoying those blessings I have thanked God for every morning as I drove the interstate to work. The time is now - Mondays included.
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