More and more I pick up the newspaper or turn on the TV and hear that people want to do something more stimulating, generous, or entrepreneurial after retirement. Supposedly no one wants to sit down and do nothing. I, however, have an absence of ambition to do such things.  I spent 32 1/2 years of my life getting up early in the morning and spending my days, many of them in frustration, teaching elementary school students. All of that ended in February, 1999. It might have been a good idea to get a second job to supplement my income since I didn’t retire rich, but I didn’t want to. I still don’t. It is nice to be able to sleep late if I so desire. If I want to watch TV all day, that’s OK. I like being able to go out to lunch and have a glass of wine. If I feel drowsy, I can go home and take a nap. Really, do people want to retire then get up early and rush out to a new job that is sometimes more stressful than the one they retired from. Do retired people really want to get up at the crack of dawn and rush off to a class or to volunteer somewhere? I know two people, fortunately they are married to each other, who are content with getting up each day and taking it easy. They don’t apologize for not getting up early each day with a long list of things to do. They believe they worked hard and contributed to society. Now they just want to go out to eat, or shop for something to make at home to eat! I can’t believe there are people who want to get special permission from their bosses to work well into their seventies or eighties. Stop it already! I think. “Read a novel. Feed the birds. Have a mocha latte. Treat yourself to a matinee.” There is more to life than work. Whenever I tell friends that I am happy doing nothing, they look at me as if to say, “You must be kidding.” “Don’t you get bored,” they ask. Are they kidding? Bored? That’s not possible. This boredom thing is a myth started by the folks who created continuing-education programs! I’d like to make it clear that I’m someone of sound mind (and sound body). I don’t have a startlingly low IQ, and no, I don’t have a screw loose. I like the idea of retirement without a job or a game plan. If I do someday change my mind, I’ll get a job. Or take a course. Or volunteer my services somewhere. But, what if I continue to enjoy life at my pace and on my schedule? Then that’s what I will continue to do. Yes, retirement is just as good as I imagined would be.