My Sixties Project

Retirement has been a little frustrating – the adjustment to being home and making all the changes is not worrisome to me – but my husband is another story. He is so stressed about the medical insurance changes and what it might mean to him, that he won’t leave me alone. Often acting like a three year old, his constant questions have just about put me over the edge. I try to understand, and deep down I realize he is not picking on me, but I find myself getting a little snappish with him.

The things keeping me going has been my early morning walk, yoga, and daily meditation. In this morning’s CALM meditation, Tamara Leavitt introduced the concept of SAIN. She described it as both a French word meaning healthy or wholesome and a strategy Michale Stone used for teaching meditation. S stands for stop, A for allow, I for investigate, N for non-identification. Just assigning these words within the acronym might be a help with my snapping and short comments in dealing with my husband. I need to be thinking about where he is coming from more and how is questioning is irritating me less, this just might keep me from going insane.

So I will give it a try. I keep coming across these gems and they make perfect sense in helping me address my shortcomings. Once again, I just need to relax, slow down, and as much as anything remember I am not doing this alone. Kindness is another good thing to throw into the mix.

Now that insurance, social security, and retirement have all been taken care of, I can turn to my next task and adventure – packing for Mongolia. I will be heading out in a day or so, and I think my being gone will give my husband a chance to relax and breath. Bless his heart, I am sure he is having as much a struggle with my retirement as I am!