The Greek poet Hesiod once wrote, “Observe due measure; moderation is best in all things.” and the older I get the truer I find this. Too much of a good thing can ruin it, or at least make it less special. We see this in our daily lives all the time. Just look at the one percent. After you’ve bought a Bugatti Veyron, where do you go from there? Two? Once you have a yacht, how do you improve upon it? Put a yacht in your yacht?
When I told people I was retiring a lot of them thought it meant I was just going to lie around and do nothing. And yes there was some of that, but not as much as you would think. Doing nothing is boring and as my mother used to tell me, “Only boring people get bored.”
I spent my time gardening, cycling, working on pottery, cleaning the house. There are lots of different activities and chores that need doing. However now that winter is coming the garden is slowing down. The only big tasks left are harvesting the Yuzu and tilling the soil. Cycling will also slow down, especially once the snows come.
So with that in mind I have decided to pick up some contract work. And frankly, I am quite excited. I really like implementing analytics solutions. I like the challenge of converting business requirements into trackable data, and I like helping people understand what their website is actually doing.
The world is moving towards a four day work week. It seems we are realizing the importance of moderation and a work/life balance.