ARTICLES  &  REVIEWS

RETREAD NOT RETIRE

London Free Press

 

The transition from full-time employment to retirement is probably one of the greatest transitions of our life. While retirement is promoted a pleasurable thing many people are feeling after retirement that something is wrong or missing.

 

The sudden change from full-time employment to full-time leisure is often too much for people to experience without feeling some sort of negative reaction. Retirement is really a fairly new concept given longer life expectancies and the indoctrination of pensions and RRSP's. Working until old age used to mean sixty-five, at that time when Canada Pension Plan was first installed, life expectancy was only age sixty-eight or age sixty-nine.

 

Retirement has nothing to do with age in the year 2001 because if we are mentally alert, physically alert, physiologically involved with people and psychologically mature we can have a tremendous life into our seventies and late eighties. If we are young in spirit and have active imaginations we can have profound enjoyment into our golden years. But retirement does bring a stage of anxiety and excitement especially when we take time to plan and structure our retirement. There can be a euphoric period where the primary awareness is "well now I have the time to do all things that I wanted to do, now my life is mine". After six months to a year there tends to be a sense of let down and the gradual feeling that this is more than an extended holiday. Then into the second year some type of a re-orientation and re-calibrations and a fine-tuning of personal goals and objectives. We are all creatures of habit and familiarity is comforting and change brings some degree of difficulty. Working full-time and moving suddenly to relaxation takes away our social life from our co-workers and our clients and often puts us in the face of our spouse more than our spouse may need us to be in their face.

 

It is interesting that people who win the lottery can have no doubt that they want to get out of their work. If you look at those who have won the lottery, after the initial period of euphoria they do feel empty, under stimulated and lost. So from that perspective work can be a great outlet for mental activity and more preferable to a current state of boredom. Boredom and frustration often emerge and confuse the retiree.

 

Intellectually you might think that being free from work shouldn't be difficult but it is. John Roth, M.A. Registered Psychologist has discovered that many retirees sink out of sight. They simply stop and find themselves doing nothing. Some become depressed, others become physically ill or even die. Sometimes a wife is already at home when the husband retires. Sometimes the spouse keeps on working and sometimes they both decide to retire at the same time. Potential conflicts are minimized or avoided in a marriage by being away from each other. Constant togetherness can be tedious and even emotionally suffocating and can dilute the sacredness of being together. It is helpful to plan and structure a balance of separate and together activities. There are also needs to be a re-negotiation responsibility for household tasks. With some couples the men who previously did few household chores agree to do more. In other instances the distribution stays pretty well the same. Communication is essential.

 

An effective strategy for retirees is to redefine and reframe expectations and experience of retirement from something that would be positive. Problems can serve as catalysts towards greater creativity and growth. Everyone has had experiences of being able to solve problems in a manner that lead to greater success and opportunity.

 

Identifying and the working towards personal goals and objectives give definition and purpose to our lives. Retirement provides the opportunity to refocus on broader human values and the betterment of our community. Retirees are free to decide what they wish to do, what priorities to make and time to allot. Many successful retirees note that they have felt a greater degree of self worth and accomplishment from their retirement activities and projects they experience during the earlier stages of their lives. No longer do they need to endure harsh or unhealthy work environments. They no longer need to focus on occupational advancement or acquisition of wealth or possessions. Having options is the same as having power and with power comes the possibility to choose projects that are meaningful and emotionally rewarding.

 

With focus, forethought, perseverance and a sense of humor retirement can be one of the happiest stages of your life.