Life After Retirement

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LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT

I am the type of person who, like Agatha Christie’s famous detective Poirot, needs to keep her little grey cells working, otherwise I will certainly find myself deteriorating fast. Eleven years ago, following a very busy career in the sports and fitness industry I found myself reaching that dreaded age of retirement. To be honest I was getting fed-up and was in need of a change. Something new to keep me occupied and to stretch my imagination and ingenuity. Having spent the previous twenty plus years creating, developing and writing for an award-winning website as well as taking over running a multi-million-pound sports buying group business I wanted something which was different.

Sitting down I started to write short notes which summed up what I had being doing with my life in general and was surprised at the results. In reality what I had was the basis of a book about my life. I did start writing it but my excuse for not finishing it has always been not while my parents are alive. And that continued even after my Dad passed but as Mom went not so long ago, I suppose I no longer have the excuse. It will be quite a read once I finish it!

The one thing I have realised is, that age is only a number. And, that you are never too old to learn something new or expand on what you already know. So, unbelievably when my husband asked me, “If you get rid of your business what will you do?”

Flippantly I replied, “I’m going to paint and write a book.” Honestly, I’m not sure who was shocked the most - him or me.

Having concentrated on non-fiction writing for the previous twenty years, I spent the next eighteen months writing my first fictional novel and trying to paint. To be truthful I was rubbish at the painting. However, the historical novel won a Silver Award plus another award meaning I could now declare myself an author.

From there on in I began absorbing. I learnt as much as I could about the world of writing. Entered and won some competitions, discovered the craft of writing different fictional genres, gained some valuable insight to the world of publishing (self and traditional) and brought the knowledge of mentoring, acquired over many years in my previous business life, into my new world.

So here I am, eleven years later, an author, a speaker and a mentor. And I am thoroughly enjoying myself - retirement ain’t too bad after all.