Visualeyes 1

This week has been challenging yet successful. I ventured out on the MARTA bus and train- with an encouraging friend- to see if I could make it to several doctors' offices all located in the same medical center. Amazingly I did!. The only down side was the amount of time it took. If I drove there, it would take 15-20 mins. Between waiting for buses, then the train, walking from the train station over to the actual building...90 mins. It was a smack-you-in-the-face reminder that going places will probably require 3x the amount of time. [heavy sigh...] I've always been a multitasker. Well you had to be when you taught 25-30 young children.And it wasn't uncommon for me to plan out 6 errands in one trip and then remember 2 more that could be added on. That time is done. While my planning skills will still be useful, they will now spread the activities over days because there's just not enough daylight hours this time of year for me to pack in the errands and have to wait for buses or trains.

I should be glad I don't have to rush around anymore. After all, I AM retired. Nah. The reality is that I'm not that former Type A personality because I can't be, not because I chose to be. I want to open the window and scream "It's not fair! I don't want to give up my independence!" (I know, shades of the movie Network.) But who said life is fair? And for that matter, who said I had to give up my independence? Yes, I can no longer be SPONTANEOUSLY independent; now I have to plan my activities. But if I'm still designing and selling my jewelry, still doing my grocery shopping, still going to work out, still writing my books, still meeting friends for lunch or dinner, am I any less independent? Hell no!! So the trick is to change my mind set, to accept that planned independence is as good as spontaneous independence. Yeah, that's a work in progress. But being the stubborn woman that I am, I'll get there. (Sooner rather than later, I hope!)