Goals

Click herFor many years I have had goals.  Some have been big, and some have been small.  When I was employed my goal was to do a good job and keep people off my back.  I enjoyed much but I did not enjoy everything I had to do, but I did it. 
We were doing stuff in that awkward transition period.  Everything was going over to computer, but we were not there yet.  I had to design and put together a pack for new employees that listed everything needed, and everyone who had to be visited to get a handle on things.  I did that, and the system worked, but I could not help but feel all that stuff was heading for the computer.
I had goals outside of work.  Some were big, and some were small.  The big ones often effected the behaviour of others.  One in particular saw people travel from interstate.  They would not have come if it was not for me.  Like Martin Luther King I had a dream.  Really, that is where the similarity ends.  Still one thing got a write up that was displayed to the world.  The person that won that event said to me “unbelievable.”  That sums it up really.  “Unbelievable.”
This was so not a one-man band.  People were needed.  Without them there is a good chance nothing would have happened.  Still, we were all on board and we made stuff happen.  We all had different roles and the end product was really good for us and others.
Then I had the stroke.  It sorta changed things.  They did not want me back at work.  I did wonder where they were going to find the 14 people to replace me.  They managed though.  It would be nice to think I am indispensable but I’m not.
My goals have changed as a result.  I still have them.  Some are big and some are small.  The best I can do is operate with in the parameters I find myself.  Some stuff can be controlled.  Some stuff can’t.  But any day vertical is a good day really.
There are some that seem to think “oh you are retired, put your feet up, relax.”  A lot of people who say such things have never been there.  Sure there is a time to relax, and I am undeniably slower, but retirement is not all relaxing.  Personally, that would drive me crazy.
For a start I want to be more than a speed bump for that young fella who is going places in table tennis.  Often it is like I am doing 50 and they overtake me doing 60 or more.  But there are those still doing 45.  I get in their way and make them earn their stripes.  More and more seem to be finding that easier though.  Oh well.
Being a realist matters to me.  For someone who, all things being equal, has less time in front of them than behind them, I am happy to dream.  Younger people for whom the world is their oyster can have visions of the future they would like to create.  If it is a good thing then good luck to them I say.
As for me, my goals may be simpler than they were, but they are real to me, and need to be worked at to make happen.e to edit.