Second life, second retirement, March 13, 2019

It’s time to fire up the blog, I have a fresh shot at retirement!

I have signed a contract that gives majority ownership and management responsibility for Organico Deli-Market to Derek and Anja, who have been running the kitchen for a year and a half. Running the store for eight years on my own has been more than enough. With seven days a week and little time for travel, I reached the point of burnout and exhaustion.

The challenge now is how to use the extra time in a meaningful and purposeful way. I spent the first week of March, after we signed the contract at a lawyer’s office in San Jose, at a retreat facility called Samsati just overlooking Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, collecting my thoughts about how to go forward.

Puerto Viejo is a refreshing change from Nosara, especially its climate this time of year, which is rainy at night and cooler at elevation on the side of a mountain. There was only one other participant in the Second Prime Renaissance retreat, a Swiss man, Xavier, who consults to banks on change management and is a former Iron Man Triathalon competitor, but we spent more time talking about his ayahuasca experience in the Amazon.

Xavier helped me realize that my immediate mission is to take the things that I currently enjoy doing, devote more time, and fine tune them, like I tune the strings on my guitar. One of those strings is Health, so I will focus more on tennis, biking, yoga and working out, as well as my diet, which has been vegan for a few months already.

 A second string is Music, which includes more practice and lessons on guitar, singing, which encompasses the weekly Karaoke gig that I host, as well as getting out occasionally for a night of live music or dancing to a DJ. I never miss Open Mike Night at Beach Dog Cafe, which can encompass all of the above.

Another string is Writing, which includes picking up this blog after an absence of about seven years. I also include my work as Secretary for the Nosara Civic Association, and by extension work on behalf of the community. My background in journalism and public affairs seems to want to be put to better use, so I will be tuning up this string in ways that are not yet fully focused.

A fourth string, or note, will ultimately make a chord. That is Love and Relationship. This may be more challenging than the others, although the community here is full of friends, and I can’t go far down the road without seeing one of them. When these notes are in tune, the resulting chord will help me align with the universe. At that point, I have to be careful what I wish for, because anything can happen!