Perspectives

Is There Life After Retirement?

Several years before leaping happily into early retirement, my husband and I enrolled in a series of Retirement Planning seminars through Calgary Continuing Education. The weekly speakers dealt with topics we hadn’t considered, opening our minds and leading us to alter some of our plans. For example, we changed our retirement destination from Kootenay country to Vancouver Island! [The “Relocation Package” article found on this site elaborates on some of the information shared during the Seminars.]

One of the discussion groups vividly remains in my mind because a participant, a 65+-year-old man, expressed fear and panic about his impending retirement. He felt that retirement would mean the end of his life. The rest of our group, so looking forward to the future, couldn’t fathom this man’s obvious emotional pain. We talked but his trepidations were too deeply entrenched for him to hear what we were saying.

I hope that retiring from the workforce eventually enabled this gentleman to discover one of life’s best-kept secrets:

“Retirement is when you stop making a living
and start making a life!”

So true …. and there is no magic involved! Although I’m not an artist, I liken the new beginning retirement offers to a fresh, blank canvas or an untouched page. It’s up to each one of us how we proceed to create the work of art that will ultimately form a large part of our personal stories.

Retirement is the beginning of the next phase of life; it isn’t a 365-day-a-year vacation with an already-planned itinerary. It can be a wonderful, exciting time of life – a well-earned reward for having worked so many years. It’s ours to enjoy.

“How do I describe “retirement” in a unique way?” I asked myself when writing this short piece. What better way than a light-hearted but thought-provoking bit of word association? Please sit back and let your mind wander as you think of the following words and questions. Relax, imagine, feel, anticipate and enjoy picturing how your personal itinerary will evolve.

• A new beginning!
• Freedom of time!
• No alarm clock, no schedule unless you choose to follow one!
• Which hobbies would you pursue?
• Which dreams of youth and young adulthood would you re-awaken?
• Would you choose part-time work for fun and socializing?
• Would you return to school to earn the degree circumstances prevented your attaining when you were younger?
• What interests and skills would you bring to volunteering?
• Would you travel? Where?
• How would you envision making a difference to someone’s life – even your own?

Yes, there is life after retirement! The following anonymous quotations succinctly describe two attitudes – and somewhere in between is where I am and want to be!

“I’ve been rushing through my life so far …now I’m going to be able to slow down and enjoy the rest of the journey.”

and

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other and your body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming:

Woo Hoo, What a Ride!”

Submitted by Rhonda McDougall

What's a Retiree?