July 20, 2024
As I write my first post, I feel a bit overwhelmed and often at a loss on how to describe the reason for developing this website. So let me take a step back and let you know a few things about me.
I retired early. This is my second time retiring actually. The first time it was after a sale of my employer’s company. It was the right time since I had been battling for years with Graves Disease that just couldn’t be kept under control by medication. At this point, I was shaking uncontrollably with tremors, eating from sun up to sun down, yet still losing weight, and I was withdrawn from others due to anxiety. I could no longer handle daily life. This disease led to finally removing my thyroid, but the medication adjustments did not mean an immediate fix.
I did go back to my profession, Human Resources, one year after surgery, after being asked to do so by a leader of another company. however, when Covid hit, I knew it was time to finally retire. I was in the midst of remodeling a home and enjoyed the creative process and decided this was more interesting than dealing with government regulations during Covid.
So, I retired. And I didn’t know exactly how to fill all this time. When you are a professional and you have responsibilities, you live them. But now the phone didn’t ring every few minutes, and I had no schedule. I didn’t have hobbies or skills either, since work was my life. My children are now grown and my world was quiet.
After your work life is complete, you start to examine the other parts of your life that had been neglected or ignored. This realization isn’t always easy on the soul.
I once heard someone say, that if you don’t fill your time, others will do it for you. This became true. I found myself involved with others’ lives, avoiding the hard work of unraveling my life and finding my place. Hoping the phone would ring to go help a family member or watch a grandchild. Anything but sitting at the house wondering what I was to do with the rest of my life or remembering phases of my life that I wish had or had not happened.
This is what this website is all about. Untangled Souls. This moment when you realize that you have time left to examine relationships and take action to enhance and/or repair. This moment in time, when practically every second is yours to do what you wish….try a new hobby, call an old friend, travel, care for yourself and take new adventures.
I will be sharing my struggles, the fun, the projects, the moments. I invite you to share yours as well. The goal is to find contentment, with the good and the unpleasant of what you discover about yourself looking backwards, in the present, and in the future. To dare to learn new aspects of who you are and what you are still meant to achieve. There is still so much to explore!
Take a deep breath. You are ready. I am ready. And there is no better time than now.
Until next time, take care.
Patti Davison