Even in retirement, I’ve learned that life is full of challenges.

Whereas my career presented opportunities, roadblocks and open doors all along the way, I have discovered that retirement’s challenges are no less daunting.

The next big step is going to occur in just a few days. My wife and I are planning to have our Final Garage Sale before we start making serious plans to vacate the structure we’ve called home for more than 21 years.

Our move is not yet imminent, but I’ll declare right here that once we get past this next week, that moment will be much more clearly in our sights.

One of the challenges I’ve met head on is deciding what to toss, what to keep and what to sell. We said so long today to a piece of furniture we had intended to sell, but when we started to move it toward the garage, we discovered it had some, um, structural flaws that made it not worthy of anyone’s attention. Out it went! Gone.

We’ve collected a lot of things over the course of nearly 46 years together. Some of it has a bit of sentimental value. Some it, well, are just items we’ve been lugging around. We’ve decided we’re done lugging things around just because we can’t say goodbye to it.

This garage sale is going to include some fairly big-ticket items. We hope to sell all of it. Reality, though, tells me it’s entirely possible we’ll have to find other ways to dispose of it.

I will do so with glee.

I’m too old to pack up big items. Both of us have committed emotionally to tackling this next big — and likely final — major challenge in life. It involves relocating down yonder.

We both understand the daunting challenges that await us as we prepare for this major leap of faith. What the heck. We faced many such challenges when we were working.

We met them then. We damn sure can meet these new ones.