For the last few days, I’ve downed with nasty cough and fever. Whenever a sickness strikes you have nothing else to do other than struggling to recover. We would stuck at home with running nose and incessant coughing. Feeling bad for not performing well during the day. Then pursuing the steps to be excused with medical leave cert and what not.
That was then.
Now I just realised that I don’t really give a sh*t what strikes me down. If I am down, I will stay down for as long as I could manage the pain. Because now I have no where to go and anything to perform. No boss to tail my end or someone asking for a proof of absence. I am free. OMG I can’t spell enough words to illustrate this joyous moment. There is no pressure to get better or being back to the office. I can nurse this bloody cough slowly and carefully, so it won’t come again. At this age my body needs time to heal so I would give all the time needed. I love this person called -Me- it has always been around when I needed it to perform any task. Most importantly it is there to bare the pain of my sadness.
Being retired means you have plenty of time to take care of yourself; physically or mentally. All those days with stressful meetings and classes and workloads are gone. Some people see retirees as pathetic old men/women who have lost their touch. They have nothing to do except sitting around watching TV. Well, wouldn’t you rather be like them? and get paid at the same token? Retirees, mostly, will get their monthly pension quietly going into their bank account.
Today, I spent the afternoon with relatives remembering those who have died recently. Many among the attendees were younger cousins, nieces, and their kids. All the sudden I felt old and elderly. Days of being young or “new bud” in the family have gone. I enjoyed that for awhile talking about work and the future things that I would do. Bragging here and there to fit into the conversation. Like I used to, these young fathers would sit quietly at the table and say nothing only to swipe the phone once a while. So today I played the role of the elder and lead the conversation by asking about work and stuff. Immediately, everyone was alive, and stories started to go from one topic to another. Once a while it is good to be with your family catching up with olds and young.
