Occupational Balance in Retirement – Part II

So, how do we achieve occupational balance in a new life in the beautiful Costa Rica?

Before we moved to Costa Rica, I joked about leaving the UK for an adventure to fill the gap between slavery and dementia, but I wasn’t joking entirely. As life expectancy increases, the third stage of our lives might last for 20+ years; a long time if we don’t seek out opportunities to avoid tedium and brain death, or the humdrum expanding to fill the time available because we’ve little else to do.

My opening stories were not intended to take us into the depths of marital success or failure, but they were intentionally illustrative of the tensions that can arise in retirement when couples have to adapt to the 24 hours-a-day-together routine – tensions that can be compounded when living in a foreign country, away from family, friends and former supports.

We debated this long and hard before we made the big decision to move here. I am naturally gregarious, a ‘people person’ who needs the buzz of being out and about, networking and doing things with other people. In contrast, John is very content with his own company; though perfectly sociable, he doesn’t seek people out as I do.

We agreed that setting up our small B&B would be one of my first goals, and getting the ‘ranch’ in hand would be John’s priority, and that continues to keep him busy. But looking back, I can honestly say it is only in the last year, our fourth year, that we’ve truly felt settled. We now have the elements of occupational balance that satisfy us both.

We’ve cracked the self-maintenance/daily survival bit, that’s easy. Leisure and pleasure comes from loads of reading, various hobbies, exploring the countryside, learning Spanish and joining in whatever is going on in the community. The productivity bit is the hard bit.

Many people come here for the tranquilo and proudly declare their intention to do nothing; that’s fine, this is all about personal choice. But tranquilo can easily transmute to boredom, particularly when one partner wants a bit more out of life.

Yes, activities such as gardening and creative hobbies can be productive and hugely satisfying, but they’re essentially internally focused. Many of us will continue to need activities with an external focus; things that use our energies and skills and provide that feeling of purpose and self-worth that we enjoyed during our working lives.

Therefore, instead of looking at balance in the mundane sense of how we occupy our time, it is perhaps more useful to look at the inherent qualities of activities in terms of what makes our lives fulfilling; what we need as human beings.

Beyond nature and all it offers here in Costa Rica, leisure and social activities don’t come on a plate. If there’s anything we’ve learnt, it is that we have to create the adventure we came for.

To illustrate: last week, some members of the Women’s Club finished digging in over 100 new plants in the Elderly People’s terminal care home. In time they will bring more beauty and colour to their impoverished environment. Right now, we women enjoyed the challenge, the camaraderie, the sense of achievement, and a good laugh spreading out the goat manure. A laugh a day is good for your health!

After a steaming shower, I put the feet up with a good book. My kind of balance for a happy day!

As the saying goes ‘retirement is when you stop living at work and start working at living‘. We can’t plan ‘balance’ in advance, but its worth working for – that’s the real adventure?

You can read The Importance of Balance in Your Retirement in Costa Rica – Have you thought about it? Part I here.

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Written by VIP Member Sheelagh Richards. Sheelagh is originally from Scotland and her husband John who is from Wales are two inveterate British travellers who fell in love with Costa Rica, the beauty of the Talamanca mountain range and the perfect climate of the Rio General valley where they have established a small Bed & Breakfast called Casa de Los Celtas.

You can see more about John and Sheelagh’s very affordable B&B outside San Isidro here and photographs and prices here and you can also see a free online video interview with John & Sheelagh Richards here.

Please contact our Recommended Costa Rica Realtors working in the area: James Drews, Daveed Hollander and John Wieland, by using the simple form below and they’ll send you:

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.