To retire or not retire... that is the question!

What is on the top of your list when you retire?

When I retire, I am looking forward to spending more time with family, especially grandchildren. With a brother in London and a son and family in Spain I can see travel will be on the horizon . . . hopefully . . . so long as Covid behaves.

The one thing I WILL be doing is learning how to play my piano. I have dragged that piano around the countryside. At present it is great to display photographs on, sit a lamp on and to gather a good coating of dust. I am determined to lift the lid and make beautiful music . . . it may not be beautiful to some, but to me it will be!

Will I retire when I turn 65? Probably not, hopefully I will still be in good health. I enjoy my job and I think the mental stimulation of writing various articles each day keeps the grey matter humming along!

I start my mornings doing wordle and finish my evenings with a crossword in the bath. I read a range of books and will by-pass any piece of housework for a good documentary on the box.

I will dig and plant my vegetable garden for as long as the body obliges, and I get exercise from mowing the lawns. Mind you, I do collapse on the couch when I finish!

All this may sound trivial, but as we age, we need to keep our bodies active along with our minds.

I thought of taking up swimming, that would give the other swimmers a bit of a laugh and laughing is such a good thing as we age.

We need to grateful for the friends we have accumulated along the way, they always seem to appear when needed.

Whatever age we decide to retire, we all need to make sure we enjoy our retirement years, keeping ourselves busy, taking time to enjoy the small things in life, and taking time out to smell the roses!