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Thursday

I have carved out this little retirement routine: Monday is gym and my coffee group, Tuesday is usually an appointment day, Wednesday is volunteer day and paddling when in season, Thursday is a free day, and Friday closes out the week with gym. Saturday is the end of the week and Sunday is the start of the week. 

After decades of hitting the ground running, one of the things I have loved about being in retirement is a slow start to the day. I find that I spend considerable time thinking about how long I am going to go before I "get ready" for the day. The "if" and "when" is a huge variable on a day-by-day basis.  

What I do with Thursday is also unpredictable. On some Wednesdays I think, "I am doing nothing tomorrow. Absolutely, nothing!!!". I have come to realize, I don't do "absolutely nothing" well. I bounce from these thoughts; "is this the way you want to spend your retirement, doing nothing!". Then other times, I am, "look at you go, doing nothing in your retirement. You rock this retirement life!".  

This post was inspired by a recent Thursday of struggle. On Wednesday night I thought, I should spring clean my bedroom tomorrow. It has been a year since I did renovations, so why not give it a good deep clean. I have a vague memory of spring cleaning my entire house and at times fall cleaning the same year. That is what was done, and I enjoyed it. I don't have the same joy. Washing the curtains and putting them back up, now looks like a massive job. It is a given when you spring clean and you take the curtains down, the window should be cleaned. Not to mention the walls, floors and bedding. On Wednesday night, it seemed like a great idea. I got so close to cleaning that I nearly texted my BFF to talk me down off the ledge. I managed to pull it together on my own, and so far, I am proud to announce there is no spring cleaning happening. Because, as I write this it isn't even spring. Cleaning out of season is just wrong.

I decided that Thursday certainly needed a makeover. Thursday seems to be the day that I can overthink life. Once that starts nothing good comes of it. Following the near miss with the spring cleaning, I thought maybe I could think of Thursday as the day that any house activity would take place. My cleaning routine is so random, I am now calling it a house activity. In my retirement routine I need to focus more on planning a different and fun activity on Thursday, something to look forward to, over and above a house activity.  

I realize that many of you reading this are busy with family obligations. Living close to your family puts a whole different spin on "routine". You are probably searching for more hours in the day. For those of you that are trying to juggle, work, family and other activities, I do understand that struggle. But I am wondering about the other people like me. Do you have a "Thursday" in your life?  The day that can swing from very busy to basically nothing, the day of indecision. Just when I was getting down on Thursday, a good friend invited me to lunch the very next Thursday. How perfect! She was unaware I needed engagements on Thursday, and that she is my one thing!!! You can always count on friends, because of her invitation, the whole day will be way more productive.

What have I become. Once upon a time, I had so many things on my calendar, I used different colors of highlight pens to keep them straight. Cleaning was never daunting, it just needed to be done. I now realize it is better for me to have a day of something, albeit one thing, as opposed to having a "day of nothing". After reading the following quote, I think I will call it "Thankful Thursday". When it is all said and done, I do treasure Thursday; it is my girl day, and I am thankful to have it in my life. 






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