The word sounds fun and exciting. Actually, it is the sounding of an alarm that your life is drastically changing. It’s a time when for many, such as myself, it becomes too difficult to work as we have in the past. It’s a time when age is recognized by society and government and it becomes acceptable to finally slow down.
I was an elementary school teacher. I have a hearing impairment. Teaching and the young lives that I was privileged to share in were very precious to me. Because of my age and hearing challenges, each day was becoming harder and harder. I would come home in the evening emotionally and physically exhausted. Each day would begin with me thinking I couldn’t go on.
So, when given the choice to continue another year or stop, contemplating what the cost would be, reducing my income to a third of what I was making, I decided to make huge life changes that would enable me to stop working. They were not easy. In fact, as I write this my husband and I are just weeks into this process. We moved to a community out of state that was less expensive to live in. There are relatives there, some older than us, that can help us navigate this new season of life.
Once I get settled into the day-to-day life of retirement I suspect I will begin to examine my purpose and value. This is another reality of retirement. We will no longer be experiencing the satisfaction of work and the rewards of our careers. I already feel a void that I don’t know how to identify.
I sit here at this chair at our campsite and gaze into the trees. I have been watching a chipmunk play within a few feet of me. He looks curious as to who I am or perhaps is hoping for a scrap of food to drop to the ground. I am amazed at how he (or she) can jump two feet to the top of a nearby log.
The world around me, the bigger picture, is changing faster than I am. Wars, rumors of wars, famines, disease, morality in rapid decline, and technology advancing faster than I can keep up with. Social media has become our community and the family is no longer as valued as it was even just a few years ago.
Where do I go from here? I don’t know. Perhaps the best thing I can do is accept this place called retirement. With it comes the choice to let go of the things I can’t change, as if I thought I could before. I chose instead to make the most of every day. Believing there is a lot more good in life than not is a choice. Holding on to the values that have taken a lifetime to develop, and sharing them with those who care to hear, will not change. And I suspect this is the beginning of where I will find my place and purpose in this new season of life, which we call retirement.
