183. My Retirement Drag Path

183. My Retirement Drag Path. 

 

If you have been around me for any length of time or reading any of my past social media posts, I started a countdown to our retirement about a year ago. Every time I made a post I started with a number. With each successive post, that number would count down to our actual date of retirement.  

The purpose wasn’t to brag about “not much time till laziness’ or to have the idea of “boy I can’t wait to get out of here”. Rather, it was a reminder to me personally to reflect with a heart of gratitude of what has been and to look ahead of what is to become. 

About three months before we retired, a song by Twenty Pilots kept coming up in my algorithms. The song is called “Drag Path”. You may of heard of it, if not, just look up the American Music Awards 2026 show and you will see a beautiful portrayal of this song.  

The song lands differently with different people. God has always used music as a big way to get to the essence of my inner being, struggles, doubts and eventually to my giant leap into a life of faith.  

This song deals with the devil – aka hard times, depression, self-doubt, low esteem and actual spiritual warfare in our heart. The “evidence I left” refers to our individual journey. Our struggles, efforts of both success and failure, literal proof of where we have been, the life we have lived, and the scars that exist because of that journey. God has been there and, in many cases, sent people aka his angels, to help get me to the place I am today. 

I have looked back on the drag path of my life and though at times there were some deeply painful experiences and moments, my heart is overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude. For the people i have met, the opportunities afforded to me; my beautiful children and what has become of their lives; the faithfulness of my brilliant wife and evidence of things we had a hand in establishing together, built, wrote, taught or guided, still continue to this day. 

I decided to write a reflection on what my particular life has been like in the past three months on my new journey into retirement. Its day 183. Here is a brief summation: 

I am averaging now 7.5 hours of sleep a night. That is up 1.5 hours. 

Our home is truly our sanctuary. Its hard for me to even think of traveling anywhere because of the peace we feel here, and the provision of beautiful space is overwhelming. 

My confidence has soared: I was hired instantly for a people time part-time job collecting tickets at the county fair; I began auditioning for plays again and landed a fun and meaningful role after the second audition; I have auditioned another time already and have a film audition coming up for a speaking role. My dream has always been get back to my acting roots and its coming alive for me in retirement. 

My spiritual life feels richer. I have more time for reflection, pausing, and embracing silence. 

My DIY skills are improving: i have fixed our sprinkler system in numerous places; I have hung up racks in the garage; I have prepared the lawn for winter; I am working on repairing the fence and painting it; the crack in the garage floor is bugging me to the point of research and finding the right thing to fix it; and I am preparing to blow out the sprinkler system for winter. (we just have a few warm days ahead before I do that) 

I am saying no. And not feeling guilty in the least about it. No to getting too involved in things right away. No to doing what I have always done in the past and finding new things to do that are enriching to me. 

I am not sitting around having a pity party because no one is calling for my sage advice or wants me to speak here, teach at this, be in that. In fact if I was completely honest about it, I think if they call right now I probably wouldn’t answer. But, I am not that rude so call if you want.:😀

I am enjoying the silence. No emails, no complaints, no employee issues, no money problems, no work-related stress, no deadlines, almost zero contact from most previous colleagues or associates. Those who do contact are truly the ones I consider my friends in this new part of my life. 

I am intentionally making new friends. I talk to strangers more. I smile at people. I look at them in the eyes. I ask questions. “Tell me what life is like here, where is the best places to go, etc.” Some of those folks will be my new friends for a long time now. I am a walking “don’t become your parents” Progressive insurance commercial.  

We are exploring. We say hey today let's go here but if all sudden we don’t feel like it, we don’t. 

I am living the premise of my book, “Rest for the rest of us” to its daily fullest. 

So what lazy retired man, so what? Well, here’s the so what: 

My retirement road map is laid out before me. There are opportunities ahead for Cindy and I. Detours will come up. I look back at the drag path I have left and smile. The evidence is there. My time is limited as is in reality all of our time. So, I scroll past the yelling, try to rise above the negativity, and set a new course into the future with joy and expectation. 

On day 184, lets see here...oh, I have to put the trash can out. Not much else is on the agenda for the day yet. Keep smiling.