Greener on the other side

Blimey, the weather!

The rain gouted down in biblical and unrelenting proportions at my place yesterday … which is a tricky thing when you live in an apartment with two dogs who need to wee but don’t like getting their feet wet.

After throwing them out on the sopping balcony a few times I gave up and decided to just deal with whatever transpired.

I went to dinner with friends and we could barely see a metre beyond the restaurant as we were leaving. I was drenched by the time I got to the car and it was a very slow trip home over the bridge.

DD’s garage flooded. Mine probably has too.

There was even a tornado in central NSW. NSW is not generally known for its tornados.

The weather hasn’t improved my mood.

I was sent a Tik Tok video on Tuesday night that completely and irrationally enraged me.

It was by an American doctor who reckoned the secret to a long and healthy life was to postpone retiring for as long as possible.

He gave the example of a patient he’d seen who was in rude health and annoyed that his employer had asked him to retire at 80.

There is no way on this earth that I will be commuting to an office at 80.

Are there really people who lay on their death beds thinking they should have worked longer?

I’m not sure what triggered me so badly other than exhaustion.

Maybe it’s because there have been some incredible highs in my career, but terrible lows and far too much stress.

I got my first full-time job at 17 and it’s been pretty much go, go, go for the 40 years since then.

I only took two months off with my first child and slightly longer with my second. My ex and childcare workers did most of the parenting while I focused on breadwinning.

The highs petered out about 20 years ago and my career segued into a maelstrom of evil bosses, diminishing pay and distressing exits.

The weird thing was that I exceeded all my targets, but it was never enough.

That said, there were a few wonderful years with my Drinks Association boss Sandra and I’m getting my mojo back in my most recent career move.

But my work no longer defines me – I’m unfazed by job titles these days. And I have no desire to fill out career development forms.

I dream about being unchained from the daily grind and gaining my freedom.

I fantasize about filling my days with gym classes, making healthy food, walking on the beach, relaxing with friends and planning my next holiday.

Stuff that damn doctor and his keep-working-hard mantra.

Most Americans spend their long careers getting two weeks holiday a year.

That’s no way to live.

How about you? Are you retired or thinking about it? Am I glorifying the concept?

Song of the day: Fleetwood Mac “Landslide”