Lookin' good, Billy Ray! The retirement party ends, you clean out your desk, and suddenly discover that everything you believed about life after work - from friendships to finances to your own identity - was beautifully, devastatingly wrong. The reality of stopping work is nothing like the glossy brochure version we've been sold, and I suspect many of you are discovering the same truth.
1) You'll finally have time for everything.
2) Your work friends will stay close.
3) You'll know exactly who you are
when you stop working.
4) Money worries will disappear.
5) Your health will magically improve.
6) You and your spouse will love all this togetherness.
7) You'll naturally find new purpose.
Perhaps the biggest myth is that purpose will organically emerge once you have time to pursue it. These shattered assumptions aren't failures; they're invitations to create something more authentic than the retirement fantasy we've been sold. The truth about retirement is messier, harder, and ultimately more interesting than any assumption we bring to it. And maybe that's exactly as it should be.
But I'm still happy as fuckall to not ne working anymore. Juss' sayin'...
Not planning on retiring tilI I can no longer safely see patients. Might dial back on the volume but keep working.
ReplyDeleteThe seven lies.
ReplyDeleteI'm hating it. I don't miss the nimrods I had to deal with every day, but I sure miss fixing broken airplanes.
ReplyDelete1. I would have time for more things ... if she didn't want us to be joined at the hip and do everything together.
ReplyDelete2. I didn't want to see my work friends; deliberately moved completely cross country. Not necessarily to avoid them, but that was a nice side benefit.
3. I know exactly who I am; I didn't tie my identity to work. I'm grandpa.
4. I retired earlier than I should have, so I knew money would be in short supply.
5. I didn't expect my health to change; disappointed that it went down hill quickly.
6. The worst thing about being retired is that she wants to be joined at the hip. There are a lot of things that I want to do that she gets upset because it doesn't include her.
7. Closely related to #3. I didn't make work my purpose in life. I'm grandpa.
You'll have time for what you want; your work friends, a few of them, will remain (the real ones); you're the same guy you were; if you retire after a lifetime of planning, saving, and investing, you won't have money problems; you'll have time to exercise and eat right IF you'll do it; if you like your spouse you can keep your spouse; and if you had a purpose in life outside work, you'll grow that one and find others. TLDR: You can lead a horse to water, you can't make him drink; never fight a pig in a wallow; don't argue with idiots.
ReplyDeleteI think it depends on the retiree.
ReplyDeleteWhen I retired, I picked up on writing (currently in the edit stage now), published some short stories, enjoyed the time for my sewing and craft work, and got my ham radio hobby resuscitated. Before my brother developed serious health issues, I was working on learning morse code. Sadly, he is in hospice. After he passes, I will get back to that study.
My husband has NO idea how to fill his time, other than cooking and shopping. He watches around 8 hours of tv a day. He is not physically active, is not very interested in going to the gym, and, other than his drinking buddies, has few friendships that survived his retirement.
It is probably easier for most women. Our friendship circles are not generally limited to those at work. Most of us have hobbies.
Have loved every second of retirement. Then again, I don't have a woman running my life for me, either.
ReplyDelete