Reflections

Hello and Good Day… hope You are doing well today -and- Thanks for stopping by ‘Terry’s Thoughts.‘

There are many articles/publications on the subject of retirement by the experts. Several of the experts reference there are various phases of retirement. Dr. Riley Moynes addresses his 4 phases of retirement as; (1) Vacation, (2) Lost, (3) Experiment and (4) Enjoyment. I am not going to review Dr Moynes’ work on his phases. I only reference here to draw attention to the fact, we must examine our new way of life and accept You may encounter phases as You settle in, make adjustments, etc.

My early journey into this phase of my life, (*note: should this be your first read of my articles, I have chosen to reference retirement as my ‘Encore.’), is definitely not following Dr. Moynes 4 phases. I did not begin as a “vacation.” Unless, You look at no longer required to wake up and hit the desk for work as a vacation? I probably should have arranged for an escape for a couple of weeks… which by the way, throughout my entire work life, I never took 2 weeks off for a vacation. That was on my work “bucket list” to complete before retiring -and- I never did! I was and am not “lost.” I do not have that feeling of no longer knowing who I am because part of my identity as defined in our work life was no longer present. I have not begun to “experiment.” I am, however, now beginning to fine the “enjoyment” in this phase of life.

My journey following the start of my ‘Encore’ phase of life was self reflection. I most likely, spent a little too much time reflecting. I guess I thought I needed to reflect/assess my work phase of life to settle on whether I had done enough.

I was very fortunate to have an extremely beneficial and rewarding work life; even with the 2 moments of losing my position due to corporate restructures.

Reflection should be focusing on the quality of our relationships and experiences and pursuing the life we have always intended to live, not as an assessment of how did we did in the past.

It’s easy to look back and question your decisions. It’s unfair to punish yourself for them. You can’t blame yourself for not knowing back then what You know now, and the truth is You made each decision for a reason based on how You were feeling at that time.

Maybe the person You are now would have done things differently back then -or- maybe You are the person You are now because of the decisions you made back then.

I don’t remember where I read the following, however, the statement has always resinated with me; “The secret to having it all, is knowing You already do!

As You begin your adjustment to the ‘Encore’ phase of your life, don’t spend as much time as I did reflecting upon that past associated with your work life. Those years are gone and be grateful for all of your accomplishments, experiences and challenges faced and yes, even the low periods. Your work defined a significant part of your life and how You chose to live that life was predicated upon many factors -and- your decisions were based upon what You were aware of at that specific moment in time.

You spent the previous years figuring out who You were; who You were to become; how to get things accomplished and defined your life’s journey as You developed your career and raised your Family.

As C.S. Lewis wrote; “… You can’t go back and change the beginning, but You can start where You are and change the ending.”

The future is now for You to define your life -and- as so well stated in a lyric from a Temptation song; “…I love the life I live and I’m gonna live, the life I love.”

Trust your journey, it’s all going to make sense soon.

“Never quit searching, never settle and never give up seeking your greater purpose!“