Text | Old Reason
Before I knew it, it had been eight years since I retired, and I really felt like "Wufei Rabbit walking, the sun and the moon are like shuttles"!
To say that eight years is not a short time, but I don't feel that it is a long time, it seems to be a fleeting thing.
As the saying goes, nothing is too long for the night, and nothing is too short for the day. The reason why I feel that the past eight years of retirement are like "passing through the window" boils down to the six words "there is something to do, not idle".
To put it more concisely and straightforwardly, the so-called having something to do is "playing well", and not being idle is "having fun".
December 2016 in the ancient city of Tepera, Jordan
For an ordinary person, retirement means "the boat to the dock car to the station", and since then life has entered the stage of enjoying old age. "Those who come cannot be consulted, but those who come can be pursued." What is urgent to do at this time is to adapt to the situation and "turn around" in time, bid farewell to the past as soon as possible, and welcome a new life. We must no longer have the aspiration and arrogance that "the revolution has not yet succeeded, and comrades still need to work hard."
According to my personal experience in retirement, the sooner the "transition" is carried out, the shorter the process, and the more thoroughly I worship the past, the faster time will pass and the higher the quality of retirement life will be—at least in terms of feeling.
June 2019 at Trakai Castle, Lithuania
Of course, for most people who have gone to the thirty or forty years, whether it is "transition" or "farewell", it is not easy, which requires an adaptation process, even a painful adaptation process. But no matter how painful it is, it must be faced, and this "hurdle" must be crossed.
Looking back now, looking back at my performance in the "transition" and "farewell", I feel pretty good about myself, even a little smug. Not only did I have no discomfort at that time, but I also had a beautiful gorgeous turn and quickly entered a new life track, which in turn made retirement life wonderful and bright.
July 2017 in Fanjing Mountain, Guizhou
If there are any tricks or secrets in this, no, not at all. If you have to say one, two, three, that is, the clichés that many people often talk about, the key to the problem is to put these "clichés" into action and keep sticking to them.
Next, I'll get an axe and talk about a little insight from my retirement life.
November 2017 in Antarctica
First, stop "carrying". In layman's terms, it is to return to the state of a normal person. It is understandable that "carrying" may be a need in the workplace when in power, but continuing to "carry" after retirement is a bit pretentious and disgusting. No matter how beautiful the scenery is when you are in office, how spring and Jingming, once the old man returns to his hometown, his role is that of an ordinary retired old man, at this time, he will take off his formal clothes and change into casual clothes or sportswear, so that his body and mind can relax and feel at ease. Don't look at this small dress change, this change, the original kind of "trend" replaced without a trace, there is no "momentum", even if you still want to "hold", it is also powerless, "end" can not get up, return to the wife, father, grandfather, brother, classmates, hair and other natural, real identity, how good!
Easter Island, Chile, December 2017
Second, see the world. "The world is so big, I want to see it," I kept remembering the words in the resignation letter of the female teacher in Henan. I usually like to wander around when I have nothing to do, but after retirement, with a sense of urgency and a positive and promising mentality, I will go non-stop to "travel around the world". In terms of overseas travel, I have traveled with the group to dozens of countries such as Antarctica, South America, North America, the Balkans, Northern Europe, the Baltic Sea and Belarus, which has greatly broadened the stage of my retirement life.
March 2016 in Tengchong and Shun Ancient Town, Yunnan
In China, in the way of a lone traveler, I started a free trip that I could walk and go, and successively went to Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Henan and other places, enjoying the beauty of mountains and rivers, tasting the world's cuisine, admiring exotic beauties, and recording what I saw and heard along the way, so that retirement life would be undulating, full of surprises and brilliant.
Third, play self-media. We are now living in an information age, WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Toutiao, Baijia, NetEase and other self-media have sprung up, providing a rich and diverse information exchange platform for the general public, and allowing everyone to have channels and opportunities to show their strengths. I didn't miss an opportunity. Immediately after retirement, he bought a laptop, registered an account on Sina Blog (Weibo) and Toutiao, and successively published more than 400 articles such as travel notes and miscellaneous talks on these two platforms, about 500,000 words, and more than 10,000 travel pictures, and Toutiao alone has obtained more than 30 million impressions, more than 2 million views and 210,000 likes, and has also attracted a group of fans.
November 2017 in the ancient city of Machu Picchu, Peru
Since last March, I have been playing Douyin again, and so far I have published more than 400 short videos, recording the happy time with my family and the natural scenery and cultural landscapes photographed by travel. Through playing self-media, I have strengthened my contact and communication with various groups, broadened my horizons, expanded my knowledge, further improved my writing and photography level, and made my retirement life more fulfilling and rich, as well as more tasteful and quality.
Fourth, enjoy the world. This should be the happiest lifestyle I have had since retirement. Coincidentally, in the month of my retirement, I received a big gift: the birth of my grandson. I'm excited about the seamlessness. After that, in the process of accompanying my grandchildren and siblings to grow up slowly, I picked them up and went to kindergarten, taught them to recite Tang poems, went out to play high, frolicked with them, took the siblings out to see the world, etc., all of which made me get great spiritual satisfaction, this is really a good time of "grandpa and grandson holding hands and laughing at each other, and the joy of heaven is at ease", it will always remain in my memory, and often play back for taste.
In May 2022, he took a group photo after dinner with some colleagues from the former Hanbin District Personnel Bureau of Ankang City
Fifth, get some partying. My point on this is: not for eating, just to meet, not to drink, just for friends. Practice has proved that relatives and friends get together from time to time, drink tea, taste wine, eat and chat, which is conducive to communication and physical and mental pleasure. Our seven sisters and their juniors gather together several times a year for dinner, or go to the hotel, or at home, freely and casually, without formalities, drink freely, and talk to each other, deepening blood and family affection; I have also invited (or been invited) some old friends and good buddies to gather together many times, push cups and change lamps, chat nonsense, talk about old times, and continue the friendship between buddies. These casual and unintentional gatherings make retirement life less boring and deserted, and more interesting and warm.
Sixth, focus on health care. Without a good body, everything is empty talk. That's why I pay special attention to keeping my body fit and energizing. In addition to the health care function of tourism itself, I usually focus on maintaining physical and mental health from two aspects: First, nutritional balance. Under the premise of coarse tea and light rice, an egg, an apple, and a glass of milk a day are a must. If you exercise a lot that day, you have to add some beef.
June 2016 in Chishui Danxia National Park, Guizhou
The second is to persist in sports. While continuing my jogging habit for more than 40 years, I have added strength training, which is an effective way to prevent muscle loss in the elderly and delay the speed of body aging. To this end, I purchased fitness equipment such as dumbbells, abs wheels, and pullers, so that I can exercise at home at any time. At the same time, I often go to the gym for intensive training and communicate with fitness friends. Due to the importance of thinking and action in terms of fitness, I am 68 years old, so far I have no "three highs", and I am agile and walking like a fly, which is also the strength of me to dare to travel alone. Hey, I can't help but boast about it, haha, sorry!
【Written in Ankang in May 2023】