In the seasons of life, each season holds its own joys and challenges. In nature’s realm, spring is one of my favorite times of the year. Many of us have been looking forward to spring this year because we’ve had such a long and cold winter, along with the fact that over the last 2 years, our lives have been impacted by COVID’s consistent isolation and quarantine requirements. Let’s hope that this will be a different season for all of us.
March 21st was officially the first day of spring and we’re all enjoying longer days, so warmer days will be here soon. This is the time of year when we begin to long for warmer weather activities. Many of us are contemplating summer vacations, family reunions, planting gardens, trips to the beach, picnics, and barbecues to name a few. For me, it’s a most welcome season of the year.
Poets and songwriters frequently used seasons as a metaphor for the seasons of life. I like this metaphor a lot and use it in my work with clients. Unfortunately, we often take this metaphor too literally. We see spring as synonymous with birth, when it is in fact a new beginning. Winter is often synonymous with the end of life, when in truth the environment is only in hibernation. Taken to its logical conclusion, the summer of all of our lives needs to be extended at all costs while winter should be avoided and put off for as long as possible.
I’m sure the thought process of this commonly accepted order of life affects you as you approach retirement. For too many individuals, retirement signifies the winter…the end of one’s productive life. As a result, retirement needs to be avoided or put off for as long as possible.
The fact is that retirement is just one of the seasons of life. There could be no good or bad seasons of the year with an open mindset. Each season brings its own unique joys and challenges with it. While some long for the warm lazy days of summer, others love the cold and snow, waiting all year to participate in winter sports. Someone you love may have been born in the winter and someone close to you may die on the most glorious day of the summer. Just as there are no good or bad seasons, there are no good or bad phases of your life when you have a positive mindset.
The point is that retirement shouldn’t be confused with “the winter of our lives” or the end. I personally believe that this time in our lives, as we enter our 50s, 60s and 70s, can easily be the very best times of our lives. For the first time in your life, you are wiser, financially comfortable, healthy enough, and have the time to focus on what you want to do with your life. By this time, education, child rearing and career building are behind you so you are free to concentrate on what will truly fulfill you.
You may have started thinking about retirement long before the actual event. You know exactly how you want to spend that time of your life. You have planned well financially and you have also planned how you want to use your gifts, talents, and life experience. Others are not sure what they want to do with this precious time. Welcome this and every season of life as an opportunity for making new choices, for thinking about what matter most to you, and for exploring new possibilities.