It has been 3 months since official retirement. And I am now enjoying owning my time! I make my schedules for the week. And I can also change my plans. I can afford to be spontaneous!
I still sleep and wake up early. I have been able to do my workout routines almost religiously. So I have shed some of that flabby weight. Still far from the goal but getting there. And happy about the journey.
I lay out tasks to accomplish, errands to run. A lot of these are retirement-related: SSS, Pag-ibig claims. Some are related to income streams: conducting training, coming up with training proposals, managing the properties for rent. Some are plain creative pursuits: creating content (like this blogpost hehe). And finally, entertainment: catching up on social media, videos streaming, massage! HAHA
My initial anxieties have melted away, mainly as these have been addressed. I am so grateful for that. Retirement may really be the best part. Or should I actually say “papunta pa lang tayo sa exciting part”?
And since it is Pride Week, I also can’t help but feel nostalgic about being gay for the past decades.
I have been through a lot when it comes to being gay: the bullying in elementary and high school, the hiding during the first year in college, then ‘blossoming’ ala Maxie in the years after. Then going back in the closet as I started my corporate life, a closet that became transparent towards the end of my career.
And that ran in parallel to my dating life: the romance and the relationships, and the sex, of course! Some regrettable, charged to experience. But there would be the highs: the mind-blowing sex, the furtive but fulfilling chance encounters, the transcendent intimacy with those you truly love. Hahaha so much has happened…
I look back and tell myself that I didn’t do so bad. I guess I played my cards right? But I really still feel Divine providence saving me a lot of the time. So it’s not just my pure effort.
I am proud to be gay. I wouldn’t be where I am now if I wasn’t.
But beyond being proud, I am happy being gay. It certainly is gay to be gay.
