For quite a while, I knew I had wanted to retire, but when I did back in the summer of 2001, I found myself doing things because I wanted to and not because I had to ... everything became better. I felt more relaxed, more fullfilled, more satisfied with each day.

The first checkup I had at my doctor's after I retired, he noticed my blood pressure was better as was everything in general. When I told him I'd retired from my job in Data Processing for a large local company, he said, "That'll do it. See it all the time. Too much stress in our working lives anymore."

I think he was right.