And the sixth day...she rested

I can now count on one hand the number of sleeps before I actually wake up to a very different day!  Five more times I put my head down on my pillow and wake up to a day of getting ready for work.....thinking about what is ahead of me as I drive to work.....thinking about the people I will reach out to or just share some stories. 

Do I have any regrets?  Am I panicking that I might have made a mistake by making this decision.  NO!  I feel calm, peaceful and extremely powerful - in control of my own destination.

Remember that I function each day with pictures in my head of what I want that day to look like - I daydream about what I want tomorrow, next week and even next year to look like.  Now the pictures are a tad different.  I am not sitting at a desk.  I am riding a bike somewhere, digging in soil in a newly developed city park that needs help in its gardens, I am reading a favourite book while sitting on our front porch overlooking our garden beds that we created.  Of course, "my Dan", is a part of my daydreams, my pictures but sometimes I am exploring on my own!

Only five more days - what a lovely gift to open on the sixth day!

Roll the Credits!

18 sleeps until I wake up to a very different day!  My daydreaming, sleeping and wide awake hours have been captured by flashbacks of my working life for the past 45 years!  It is like I am watching a stranger - I can feel her emotions at the time of the event; I am in awe of some of the risks she took; and a tad embarrassed for her at times on some the colossal mistakes (it felt like they were earth shattering mistakes at the time) as she made her way as a young Mom, young wife and now a seasoned professional (I can compliment myself - right?).  She certainly seem to have much different expectations at the starting point then where she ended up.

As a young girl and a teenager my hero's were definitely strong women - Saint Joan of Arc; Madame Marie Curie; Florence Nightingale; Anne Frank - I could not get enough of those women and their stories.  I felt strongly connected and passionate about their lives.

Funny, my expectations for myself at 19, 20 years old was to walk down the aisle, work for a couple of years and stay home with umpteen dozen babies!  After the babies started coming (I found out that it hurts-I hate pain - so only two kids arrived not "umpteen"), my world around me was very much like watching paint dry.  Fast forward the movie, I have arrived at the train station happy, fulfilled, content, excited and still filled with passion for new adventures and new opportunities.

I will continue to watch my movie and enjoy that woman who sure seemed brave at times and very naive at times - there is definitely a disconnect today from that person in my mind while looking outside in.  I think she was pretty amazing as she moved through her journey!

Roll the credits and end the show!

I was working on my "to do list" today at work....I update it every month and just to amuse myself I throw in a picture at the top of the list from "clip art" to add to the inspiration.  The picture generally relates to the month.  


This month, I thought I would ask "clip art" to show me some pictures related to retirement.  Most of the pictures were of gray haired slightly wizened people in practical sweaters and shoes.


Hey that is not what is in my head!  Retirement is a whole different movie in my head.......the only sensible shoes in my movie are hiking shoes as I climb some mountain pathway in Hawaii.  The only sensible sweater I see, is a life jacket I am wearing while paddling a kayak somewhere off the west coast of Vancouver Island.


Action, role it....that's a cut!

Forty days to work my way out of the maze....

I have been "retiring" now for 5 months.  December 2011 I reluctantly announced my retirement to my Board of Directors.  I have been enjoying a high profile position with the Better Business Bureau for over 5 years as President and CEO.  This has been the most fun I have had in all of my working career.

Funny!  When it hit ("I want to retire" syndrome) last year, it reminded me of when I was a young woman, the "I want a baby right now" syndrome.  Not much can really change your mind when something like that hits.

Many of my colleagues and clients are asking me what I plan to do.....PUTZ is the first thing that comes to my mind. 

I hope to share some of my thoughts and feelings and adventures as I start on a brand new course in the road to the end game.  Enjoy the journey!