What's the best thing about being retired?

[llmart]

14. I like your last paragraph.

It speaks to how we are judged by others if we a.) don't work b.) if we make an acceptable amount of money c.) what we do for a living. Personally I feel like not having to be confronted with all the different judgments is where the freedom comes in. At most jobs, your supervisor is judging how worthy you are compared to your peers. Are you worth a raise? Your coworkers are judging each other and you. You're judged by how you dress. How you act. What you look like. What job you're doing. It's insidious and you don't even know it's happening sometimes. It's why it feels so good when you come home from work.

I've always been a morning person, but not in the sense of I jump out of bed and shower, dress, eat breakfast, grab a coffee, etc. I like to ease into my day on my terms and my schedule. So I still get up early but I can sit on the couch and catch the news while enjoying my coffee. I don't have to fret about what to wear to work. I am female and always worked in an office and there was much more pressure on women on how they dressed than men. I walk every day at a park near my house and depending on the weather and season and day of the week, I can go for my walk whenever I feel like it. In summer I like to go early to enjoy the quiet and birdsong. Couldn't do that when I worked.