LIVE

Today I met a woman who was a day and a half away from retirement.

She had come to my house to do a free consultation regarding the adequateness of my deadbolts, window locks, lighting, and general home security – thanks to an epidemic of burglaries in our neighborhood. (Grrrr.)

Anyway, after we had talked strike-plates and motion-detecting lights for a bit, we sat in my living room, filled out some paperwork, and chatted about our kids and families. I asked her what she’s going to do when she is retired. This is what she said:

“I’m going to live.”

She spent an extra moment or two on that last word, “live,” as though it were a piece of dark chocolate that needed to be especially savored.

Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and didn’t even try to contain the smile on her lips.

It was beautiful.

For her, this new phase of living is going to involve as few agendas and schedules as possible, and a whole lot of just being.

Good for you, Mary. Good for you…!

As for me, even though I am nowhere close to being in the same zip code as retirement, Mary’s delight inspired me.

To truly

in all the ways that fit

for my current season of life

even when things are beyond hectic

and verging on chaos

even when things don’t look the way

I thought they would

to still

and always

fully

live.

by julie rybarczyk

P.S. Do you like my new letter buttons? I bought hundreds of them for my client gifts this year – and now I get to play with the leftovers. Yay!