Too many of my friends and associates have looked forward to leaving the day job for so long, they have built up unrealistic expectations. The first week I retired, I received the usual monthly bills for household utilities, and I suddenly realized: Oh yeah! Life goes on!
Love the emphasis on retaining a continuing focus on personal growth and ambition. That perspective adds energy and fulfillment.
Thanks for the comment (and sorry for the delayed reply - I have been on holiday and left Substack with a bunch of posts to publish while I was away - a neat and useful feature).
Yes, life continues after retirement; all the boring stuff continues and finding a focus (release) for all the energy you used to devote to work is very important. You have to keep active and busy.
Nick, there's a lot of like about this essay, and I agree that I've definitely experienced times of summer in retirement as you note! At the same time, I am not sure I would personally use the metaphor of life phases being lumped into single cycle of the seasons, with retirement being one of them. Retirement has all the richness of all the cycles! Metaphorically, I appreciate the concept that we don't stop experiencing these "seasonal" cycles at any phase of life. In retirement, I stilI learn new things (spring), enjoy them (summer), reflect on them (fall), and also experience loss (winter).
Good point about having springs, summers, autumns and winters in our retirement. However, what I don't like is retirement being viewed as the autumn (or even winter) of life. It is far from that. Do retirement right, and it is a new spring.
Too many of my friends and associates have looked forward to leaving the day job for so long, they have built up unrealistic expectations. The first week I retired, I received the usual monthly bills for household utilities, and I suddenly realized: Oh yeah! Life goes on!
Love the emphasis on retaining a continuing focus on personal growth and ambition. That perspective adds energy and fulfillment.
Thanks for the comment (and sorry for the delayed reply - I have been on holiday and left Substack with a bunch of posts to publish while I was away - a neat and useful feature).
Yes, life continues after retirement; all the boring stuff continues and finding a focus (release) for all the energy you used to devote to work is very important. You have to keep active and busy.
Nick, there's a lot of like about this essay, and I agree that I've definitely experienced times of summer in retirement as you note! At the same time, I am not sure I would personally use the metaphor of life phases being lumped into single cycle of the seasons, with retirement being one of them. Retirement has all the richness of all the cycles! Metaphorically, I appreciate the concept that we don't stop experiencing these "seasonal" cycles at any phase of life. In retirement, I stilI learn new things (spring), enjoy them (summer), reflect on them (fall), and also experience loss (winter).
Good point about having springs, summers, autumns and winters in our retirement. However, what I don't like is retirement being viewed as the autumn (or even winter) of life. It is far from that. Do retirement right, and it is a new spring.