“Indulgent” is how I would semi-seriously answer when asked how has retirement been.
While my military retirement remains indulgent, I have a more accurate adverb to describe it.
Liberating. Exiting the military has been liberating.
I still operate with a certain moral code and some level of accountability. But I set the bar for that accountability. I represent myself.
It’s exciting, and it’s taking a while to get used to. In September 2019, I’ll have been retired 1 year. There are some layers that have to be pulled back because I can detach or reprogram from a military — better to say from a beehive mentality.
I hope that makes sense. I’d like to explain it better later. Suffice it to say, I still think like someone who is a small element in a large machine.