Bret Favre stage...

You know what I mean, retired, un-retired, retired..  and now completely UN-retired.

I am beat.  I took this Friday morning kind of slow because I'm just whooped.  I am having trouble getting the amount of work I have scheduled done in the time frame I want because I'm out of shape, and it being 93 degrees with a 100 degree comfort index isn't helping much either.

As I was talking with a friend of mine who I often hire to help me out (laid off, 4 kids, decent sized home payment, 2 newer cars, etc) the subject of working less of course came up.  His wife is in a teaching type position where she works 9 months and is off 3 months, but gets paid across the summer.  He feels like she should get a summer job of course.. (And I'm the one single!!!  sheesh)

But finally the point..  Why not work every day like this and "get all the money".  Well, I don't want "all the money".  Also, something I think I've never mentioned, is that I have 2 friends who retired, one had a minor medical procedure done while still on his company insurance, and died of it, 5 days before retirement.  No telling where "all the money" went with him.   Another friend of mine retired.  He was pretty active for awhile, but slowly spent more and more time on the couch, and passed away 2 yrs after a 40 year career.  I know where "All the money" went in his case, I'm friends with his children and they inherited nicely, and I'm sure that pleased my friend.  But, I don't think 2 yrs on the couch was the plan.

My point..I have to resist these urges to hug the couch on my down time.   Which has a lot to do with the loads of work I put on myself in my Bret Favre stages of un-retirement because I put too much on myself.
See the balance problem?   So I guess my "system" does have its flaws but I don't intend to go back to a 9 to 5 anytime soon.  I think double scheduling jobs will be a thing of the past.. after I knock this one out.  I also think my retired phases need to have a hobby (paying or not) or some kind of activity planned.

I have a friend who is burning her candle at more than both ends.  I think she's got a hot spot in the middle as well!  It kind of made me realize my own balance.  My much sought after "personal time", or retired stages, don't have the quality they can if I'm always recovering from a huge surge of work after sitting on my ass for extended periods.

Options.  Well obviously I can be in better shape, and that NEEDS to happen.   Are you listening, ME?
Hobbies need to be re-ignited.  I have a vehicle I want to rehab.  I've considered getting back into the real estate game, get me a fixer upper home.
And I'm thinking of learning to fly.  Not in a plane.  More like a flying squirrel.. by jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.

And maybe I'll do NONE of that, because I'm already stressed over that like its a to-do list.  Or maybe I'll do some of it, and something else.. or some of it and nothing else.   Balance.

I tried to stand on a friends balance board.  Its a board slightly wider than a shoulder width stance, on a log like tube.  The object to balance by standing on the board on top of the log.  What I found out is you don't get up on it and stand there balanced.  You have to continually adjust.. a little this way, then a little that way, and when you can do it without over correcting one way or the other, then you were balancing. 

So thats my goal.. I need to swing a little more to the active side because I don't want to just die (hopefully metaphorically) while I'm retired.  But I don't want to over correct and work 2 jobs all the time either.

Fat checks though.  I do remember the consumerism trap!  What can I buy???  Burning a hole in my pocket!!!