Need to Relax?

No matter what we do for a living, no matter if you love your chosen career path or the luxury of retirement, we all need to set aside time for relaxation. I laugh at the common myth that once a person retires, they sit in a rocking chair and rock away the rest of their life. I would not have retired if that is what I had to look forward to. 

Retirement is the perfect time to go after a dream that you may have had at another point in time during your employment. I can't speak of others, however, for myself, I always wanted to write. Ideas of novels and children's books popped in my mind all the time. Luckily, I took notes when those ideas came to mind. With the kind of job that I had, I discovered that I could not write effectively and do my day job unless I gave up sleep. 

That wasn't going to happen. Like most others, without sleep, I don't function well. The best thing for me was to check out when it would be most beneficial for finances with my husband to take the plunge and retire before the magical age of 65. We figured it out to the best of our ability with the help of financial planners starting way back when. The opportunity was right.

At first, I did not think that I needed to carry on my own regiment of relaxation once I was retired. I was so wrong about that. It took about a month of just regrouping mentally and physically once retirement began. It was then that I wanted to get into my dream work of writing. Because I wanted to have some type of routine (and did) was the main reason that I needed that relaxation. 

First one has to get over the fact, no matter what your job is, that relaxation is not another word for being lazy. It is the key to my health and state of mind. Even while writing it is important to use most  of my former techniques on relaxing. Let me share some of them with you.

• Find time to curl up with a good book. I try to read some each day. It always helps writers to improve by reading other authors' writing.

• Along with reading comes writing daily in a journal which helps in finding how you are really feeling about your world.
• Sometimes, just taking that long hot bubble bath works magic to settle my mind. I have found that it is a great time to settle my mind and to actually meditate - it clears the cobwebs. I like to call it my mindful meditation time.
  
• Listening to the sounds around you, whether it be nature or a great play list that I have downloaded. Music helps release emotional stress. Luckily, now, even with me writing, I almost always have some type of music on.
  

A wonderful cup of coffee or at night a glass of merlot are my ways of relaxing. The first cup of coffee is what relaxes me and gets me into my day. Before retirement, I would drink 4 - 5 cups of coffee each day. Now I am down to one wonderful cup each morning before I move on to my water. To go with dinner or after dinner, a glass of merlot is just perfect. Each person should find the drink that is relaxing for them.

• Exercise is important for relaxation also. Although I will never be the runner as in the picture, I have discovered what works best for me and saves my knees.

• I like to find time to enjoy outside when it is not so stinking (a Southern expression) hot and humid outside. Time is coming up where I live now to be able to enjoy the outside more. This is how I like to relax or in our "inside/out" room that is screened and keeps the bugs out. Just as you would never find me running, it is relaxing to some, others have told me that to relax they enjoy going out camping. To each their own. This would stress me out more. 
  

The state of relaxation is so very important in our lives. It it my belief that if more people practiced it, there would be less violence in our world today. It is not the answer for everything and everybody but it surely can't hurt to give it a try. Take a moment to let it go!