I have the blahs. Which I don’t think is a recognized ailment.

I’m feeling the time crunch this month. Too much to do. Not enough time to get it all done. Especially with so many people just wanting a minute of my time. It’s never just a minute. And it frequently wasn’t necessary.

I’ll get through this, hopefully without getting too grumpy. Once Christmas is over things slow down a little. In theory anyway.

The pulls and pushes have me wondering though. Was life simpler, easier before we had all these electronic forms of communication? Was there less pressure to do things quickly?

It us tough for me to assess. I was at a different stage of life before the smart phone and email. Fewer responsibilities too. Was it just as hectic? Part of me says yes, but it was a different type of hectic.

I’ve been tempted recently to unplug, drastically. And that doesn’t mean shutting off my electronic devices for a few days.

I’m older. When people ask me about retirement, I say my plan is to read, write and play guitar. Supposedly I retired in 2017. It doesn’t feel like it.

Admittedly, when I retired it was to do full-time volunteer work in Germany. Coming back to Canada, I seem to be busier than I was before retiring.

There’s the few hours a week of paid employment, that always sems to expand. There’s the work I was doing in Germany, some of which continues here. There’s the two community boards I sit on. There’s the social life i didn’t have in Germany because no-one in my town spoke English. (As an introvert, I will admit I didn’t mind that.)

Maybe I should just quit work, both paid and volunteer and get back to my pile of unread books. Problem is, most days I like what I am doing.

I am not going to make a hasty decision. Today though, I’m in favor of pulling the plug. That feeling probably won’t last.

What about you? Is this month seeming more stressful than usual?