Restless Soul

     We are holding steady at 70 beds. That means, of course, that we are not traveling but staying put. Currently, we are in Bend, OR impatiently waiting for the finishing on our house to finish up. I find visiting the house building site every day, checking for progress, a fairly unsatisfying hobby, especially since the builder hasn't uttered the magic move-in-date. R seems to enjoy the process more than I do. Good on him, as the New Zealanders say.

While our bed count holds steady, we did buy a bed yesterday.  Admittedly, R was much more the driving force behind this purchase. (He was even excited about the "free" pillows that came with the bed. I took mine because -- it was free.) I was a reluctant, rather crabby and petulant dragged-along partner. Why?

I am a restless soul. Perhaps if I own a bed, I'll be required to sleep in my own bed more frequently than I want to. And I think the bed comes with a life-expectancy longer than what's predicted for either one of us.

When we lived in Chicago, I was much less restless. In winter I wore layers of clothing -- base layer, office layer, a sweater or blazer and then an outside coat, ear covers, hood for my head, wool scarf, sometimes one scarf for my face and one for my neck, gloves, sometimes two pairs, and boots. Geez!  I theorize that my restless soul was muffled in all those layers.  I could not hear her call.

That theory, of course, is somewhat silly. 

     A former clinical consultant frequently used the term "unleashed," usually referring to someone letting loose of pent up feelings. The unleashing was experienced as a bit of a storm or a full blown hurricane, depending on the situation. Work provides so much good stuff for many of us. Satisfaction, structure, identity, and money. But work requires that in trade we give up the freedom to do......whatever we want. The freedom of my gap-year adventure has unleashed in me ....what?......... A spirit of adventure? Wanderlust? Restlessness? Curiosity? Discontent?

Yup.
I've just re-read Joe Hearn's article "8 Habits of Highly Successful Retirees" on marketwatch.com.  Want to guess what the number one habit is for successful retiring?  Live life with URGENCY.  That's right. Successful retirees know that their time is limited, it is precious.  As I said, there is a good chance the new bed will outlive me. Since we've been back in the states, several times R has said something like this in response to my "Let's get crackin'" attitude. 
"We've only been back nine days. We have time. What's the hurry?"
To which I answer, "We've actually been back 11 days (not that I'm counting). I want to get going."

Urgency. That's what I feel.
I have things to do.  Some I know and some I've yet to figure out.

Us --  at the end of New Zealand bike tour. Where next?