For fifty five years, the common thread of my life was waking up, showering, dressing, eating a quick breakfast, getting my briefcase, and either driving to a meeting or climbing onto a plane to get to a meeting.
Then at seventy two I decided to stop. I put my pajamas on and didn’t leave my bedroom for a year. It took that long to separate myself from my work. That was 2018.
I haven’t been on a plane since then. I flew well over three million miles. I lived five years in foreign countries and worked or consulted in just about every country and state around the world.
I’ve seen enough dirt roads and poverty to last me five life times.
Five star hotels were like three star hotels after three days.
I haven’t seen anything better than my bedroom with a view. My wife made sure when she built our home that there were many windows. Plus, she likes dramatic bedroom furniture. For example, our bed is a huge king size one that is three, maybe even four, feet off the ground.
I’ve only fallen out of it once.
When I did,
I hit my nose on the wood siding as I was going down.
I was knocked out as I landed on the floor, and bled all over the rug, which ruined it. (I lived).
My wife decided to remove the bed in favor of one closer to the ground, but I protested. No, I said, I like the high bed.
This resulted in her having my son in law build a two step platform I now use to step up onto the bed. If I fall out, the steps now absorb the fall.
But, it doesn’t matter, because we replaced the rug with wood. If I were to ever bleed out ( just kidding), she would wipe it up and then take a wet mop to it. But, I sleep closer to the middle of the bed now.
It’s not as comfortable sleeping in the middle, because it gives me the sensation of lying on top of a plain where I’m going to roll down to the edge of the bed.
That’s my life since I retired.