This is our first official “retirement” trip and our third time out with Stella.  Ten days will be the longest we’ve been out so far. And we are ready for more fun on the road as we head to East Jordan and then to Empire, Michigan.   In the middle, we join the Michigander cycle ride in Traverse City.  I’m still in semi-work mode, needing to do something pretty much every minute – I am truly trying to decompress from 36 years in business.  Being in leadership for so long at Blue Cross, it is not easy to find the way to “mindfulness” every day.  What have I learned so far?

1.  Life happens.  Stuff goes wrong.  Don’t sweat the small stuff. Just figure it out and document it for the next time.  Learn from our mistakes.

2.  Breathe.  No more $10 million dollar budgets, no more strategy papers, no more employee issues, no more corporate politics.  Take a deep breath and just be calm as often as I can.

3.  Listen.   The world speaks a beautiful language that everyone can understand.  Birds, trees, wind, rain..  Find peace in the quietude.

4.  Plan or don’t plan.  I still schedule all our campgrounds and plan our meals – but I’m getting better at being open to spontaneity.  Because there are so many things to experience that are not “on the plan”.

It’s a beautiful time to be free to explore..

Barb