Todd: A Meaningful Way to Spend Retirement

I retired 13 months ago. These days I’m spending most of my time immersed in the Dharma – reading, thinking, meditating and practicing Buddha’s teachings…and I also volunteer at the center a lot. I can honestly say my retirement is better than I could have ever imagined. That’s got a lot to do with my experience of inner peace which has deepened so substantially over the years. It’s amazing how much I don’t wake up stressed out or sad anymore. I’m waking up pretty happy actually.

I used to have so much anxiety and depression. I was the biggest pointer of fingers … blaming everyone for everything. But I’ve been working with the idea that all my problems come from my mind for so long now, that slowly I’ve stopped pointing the finger almost all together. One thing that has helped me a lot is to welcome angry thoughts. I say “hi, Anger” or “hi, Sadness,” which straight away makes me smile. Then I reconnect to my inner peace which helps so much.

My future is all about continuing to evolve, continuing to grow, deepening my connection to my inner peace. I want to practice more and more and more, because I’ve never known this kind of peace before. I also want to put more energy towards bringing positivity to others and genuinely being able to rejoice in them…being happy for them. Rejoicing, which I learned through Buddhism, is such a beautiful mind.

I really just want to keep practicing and growing and evolving until I reach enlightenment.