Time to reflect?

We are getting ready this week for a family wedding on Saturday up country.  This means I have no services here because we are going to be away for the weekend. A quick look at the diary reveals a nice quiet week which is always a mistake because it  often suddenly lurches into life as I type.
When I first came to live in Cornwall I was a widow who had retired from teaching early.
This is where my first husband David and I always came on holiday. It had been our dream to come and live here for many years before he retired. Whilst we were looking for a house he had a massive heart attack and died. He was 56.
Coming here on my own took a huge effort and I thought I might find too much time on my hands. I had always been busy and suddenly the need for it had gone.  The unforgiving minute beckoned and I worried about all sorts of daft things, whether  I would make friends, whether I would be accepted by the Cornish, whether I would be able to go to the pub on my own without  a husband to accompany me.
My old dog  led the way on that one.
He was incapable of walking past the door of the local. It was undoubtedly a comment on the frequency of my husband's visits but it meant that right at the beginning he used to pull me in...that was my excuse and I am sticking to it.
I need not have worried. Gradually my life filled up with so many things that just getting round to all of them was the real problem.
Dog walking, singing in the choir, becoming church secretary, worship leader, deacon and priest, they all followed on in logical progression.
So this week, looking at my diary and finding it innocent of activity is wonderful. I can do all those things I've been putting off. I can go to the local beach, have a swim, a cliff walk.  I can do a bit of shopping on the internet, I can read a book lurking long  on the kindle. I can play backgammon and scrabble with out worrying about all the other things I should have been doing.
If you are newly retired, don't fret about finding things to do. They find you.  And with the help of God we can tackle anything!