For me, the greatest joy of all is being able to enjoy the minute.

Throughout the almost forty years that I have been part of the workforce I have been conscious of the relentless pressure of knowing that there is something, somewhere, that I should be doing - some task that essentially must be done!

Seven years ago I moved away from the bustling capital city where I had lived during most of my adult life and set off in search of the peace of a country lifestyle. I found the tranquil location for which I had always longed: the wide paddocks were dotted with placid woolly sheep and the distant hills underlined each glorious sunset.

Despite finding the perfect place, I succumbed to the pressure of a mortgage and remained in the workforce. Therein lay the quandary: I worked amongst needy children, intractable parents and anxious colleagues and, consequently, my time was never my own.

But at last, I have almost retired. I use "almost" because my options are still open, but each day that I spend in this blissful state that people call "Retirement" reinforces the certainty that I could never go back: there is no way that I could return to that situation of daily confusion, resentment, anarchy and frustration!

From the Oxford Dictionary: "retirement - withdrawal from the workforce; seclusion." But that definition fails to present the whole picture. Let me fill you in: retirement bequeaths to you the power to make choices.

This morning, having finished breakfast, I can read the newspaper and watch the Morning Show. I can have a second or third cup of coffee and I can leave the washing of the dishes until later. I can check out my Helium status and perhaps write another article. I have an email to answer from a Helium member, a new friend who resides on the other side of the world.

I can sit by the fire and look out across the windswept garden and enjoy the beauty of this wintry day without experiencing the cold blustery conditions outside. I can enjoy the company of my devoted German shepherd and laugh at his efforts to control the challenging young kelpie pup. Or I can do none of these things! As the mood takes me, that I can do!

Old challenges are fun now! I am looking forward to practising a complex Bach prelude on my electric organ. (I have held a lifelong desire to be able to learn the pipe organ and now I have the time to undertake the necessary practise.) I will spend an hour or so working on a series of lessons about Aboriginal

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