I blogged the other
day about how I sometimes feel as if my retirement no longer seems to belong to
me but to “the volunteer sector”, a mysterious force that I am starting to
picture as a large, slavering, supernatural creature waiting to swallow
innocent new retirees.
No wonder that I have failed
to complete/commit or even make a start on many of my retirement ambitions --
or even (lately) clean the house.
Volunteering, unlike paid employment, has the uncanny habit of expanding
to fill a void, and in doing so, discretionary activities get squeezed right off
the calendar. Yesterday, for example, I
bowed of my Wednesday walk in order to give extra time to the retirement home. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it
did happen.
So I have been giving
some thought to the most effective way to stay-on-track/ follow-through-on good
resolutions such as exercise more, cook more creatively, develop the ugly bits
of the garden—and on, and on, and on....and not get lured away by some other task
that seems more worthy.
On the basis of my own
behaviour and, crass as it may seem, I think the secret is Pay Money. If I “buy in” to an activity by actually
buying in (i.e. paying a fee) I am much more likely to say “I’d love to help
you on Monday morning but I have a Qigong class at that time.” I am also much more likely to attend the
class. Then, I go off to my
volunteering task.
If you are a new
retiree who might enjoy volunteering, begin with one commitment you will truly
enjoy. Then, sign up and pay up for activities that are just for fun. Yoga and Life Drawing. French classes and Flower Arranging. Whatever.
You’ll attend, you’ll have a great time, and you will have the perfect
reason to say ‘No” when the “sector” exerts its mysterious forces.
I’ve already said “No”
once this week. It is good feeling.
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