Redefining "Work"

The word "work" has many meanings. Before I retired, it meant only one thing. After I retired it came to mean another thing. I "worked" very had to have this new meaning accepted. I started out with the premise that carving and quilting was what I wished to spend most of my time doing. My first obstacle was to stop thinking that I was just "playing" around when carving and/or quilting. Next I had to cause my wife and others to stop thinking I was just playing around. I had to do something that caused others to have the same ideas about quilting/carving as they do about mowing, painting, and cleaning. What I hit upon was a series of actions that I had to take. First I had to make an investment in tools and equipment, for carving and quilting. After all we did this for mowing and cleaning. Next I had to carefully consider what I said about carving and quilting. No more out bursts of, " boy this is fun", "wow - cool", or "yesh! this isn't hard". No, I had to use phrases like, "crap, I'll never get this", "boy, I sure screwed this up", and "this is harder than it looks". The capper was when I paid money for a table at a carving show. Now this means that I must have carvings to display; and to possibly sell. It wasn't long before I heard my wife say, "hey! you had better get to work carving for that show". Now she just says, "he's out in the shop working". Or am I out in the shop "playing"? Don't care, there's a smile on my face.