My biggest fear when I retired at the end of last year was boredom. After all, I’d spent close to the last 50 years as an active member of the workforce. I had a job to do, I knew how to do it, and I was damn good at it.

And then, just like that, I retired. What to do, what to do?

I did not want to succumb to boredom, so I set as a personal goal to find ways to exercise both my body and my mind.

The good news with respect to the body is that I have a wife who is an exercise nut and she encourages me to get up off my butt and to keep moving. I also have a dog that demands to be walked multiple times a day, ensuring that I achieve at least 10,000 steps daily.

But what about exercising the mind? As a new retiree, I wanted a way to keep my mind active, engaged, and alert. And that’s where this blog comes in.

When I first started this blog in May, one of my primary purposes was to provide a platform for me to express my views, opinions, and perspectives on topics that matter to me. I also wanted to establish a creative outlet for self-expression and to dabble in flash fiction. But most important, I wanted — needed — something to challenge my brain, to keep my neurons transmitting and the synapses firing. Something that might stave off the mental deterioration of old age.

And something that would enable me to not succumb to the humdrum and ho-hum.

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “succumb.”