Before retiring in 2012, I didn’t fear boredom or loneliness. It never occurred to me that I would be bored with so much potential freedom. My main fear was whether giving up a steady paycheck was an impetuous move that could lead me to financial ruin!
However, after I left work, I must have told my wife I was bored every week for a year. All of my friends were still working since 90% of them were under 40. We agreed for my wife to also continue working before she negotiates a severance package at age 35. Essentially, I had to fill my Mondays through Fridays with something productive and wait until they could come out and play on the weekend.
When some friends told me they couldn’t go out after work because they had to travel to a conference abroad, I was jealous. Ah, the days of traveling for free to drink and mingle with interesting people.
Now that I’m 47, I am almost never bored or lonely. Instead, I sometimes feel overwhelmed, which has required me to set boundaries to get back to a happy state. The paradox of choice says that the more activities and opportunities you have, the more stressful life can be!
Too Many Conflicting Interests to Be Bored and Lonely
Fall is my favorite time of year in San Francisco because it’s hot, and there are a bunch of tennis tournaments I like to attend. Instead of flying five hours to New York City to watch the U.S. Open, I can just drive between 7 and 65 minutes to watch local tennis tournaments with my buddy, Richard.
Richard, 67, is a fellow retiree who left his IT job at age 52. During the pandemic, we would hunt all over the city for public courts to play
