Every one of us working today has dreamed about the day for so long-- when there will be no more rising at the crack of dawn, traveling in all kinds of conditions and working for "the man" at a J-O-B. It became a point for you to attain that was getting closer day by day.

RETIREMENT! You’ve reached your target, what are you going to do?

I bet you're like most new retirees and only have a vague idea of what you want to do with the rest of your life. Trust me, I know what you’re feeling.

After a few weeks of catching up on your sleep, watching TV, reading books, reconnecting with friends and family and doing projects around the house that had been placed on hold for years, you start to get restless and bored. I felt the same way. In fact, you almost start to become envious of the workers you watch leaving for a job each morning. At least they have something to do that has value.

Those feelings of edginess you're going through is your mind telling you that you've reached the stage of retirement where you need to explore deep within yourself and rediscover that one dream you always had and the passion to make it become a reality. You put the dream on the shelf all those years ago because you had to provide a living and raise a family but now is the time to start to make it happen.

It doesn’t matter if it's a hobby, volunteering to help others, passing on your knowledge of a special field as a mentor or beginning starting your own business, retirement can be the starting point of a whole new and exciting chapter in your life.

One of the important things you should do concerning making your dream a reality is to look at your current lifestyle and financial situation. Should you begin working again full or part-time to keep your lifestyle or do you just desire to find something to keep you active?

Looking to the Internet for clues where to start is a good beginning. In fact, having a website of your very own on the "net" could be the ultimate answer to to beginning a new phase in your life.

A website could be about a hobby where others with a similar interest could group together to exchange information, views or tips about that specific topic. Some examples would be crafts, carving, ceramics, gardening, travel or pets. A different new site could also be a moneymaking site that tells everyone about a particular product or service you believe in while at the same time producing more income to help keep your retirement funds secure.

Redefining yourself and your goals after retirement is not as hard as you might imagine. By learning about what is available to you, you can make your dream into a reality.

You just need to take the first step to fulfillment. Visualize yourself as a happily retired person with a whole new purpose in life and your dream can come true.

Stephanie Walls