PERSONAL GROWTH
Is Retirement an Ending or a Beginning?
Shifting my perspective allowed me to embrace change and nurture growth and creativity
When you observe leaves changing color and dropping from trees in the fall, do you think of it as an ending or the beginning of what will bloom in the spring?
When my wife and I retired in June 2021, we were ready for a break from the responsibilities of our respective careers. She was a physical therapist, and I managed eight busy outpatient physical therapy clinics. We hadn’t planned to retire early, but a few unexpected events changed our minds.
First, a close colleague of mine died at his desk of a heart attack at the age of 51. Like Scott, I enjoyed my job immensely, but I knew the stress was taking a toll on my physical and emotional health. His death was my wake-up call to consider what I valued and how I wanted to reorient my life to coincide with those values. Shortly after Scott’s death, my mother died of a stroke, and a few months later, my wife’s dad passed away.
These losses became a catalyst for our early retirement.
Before we decided on a retirement date, we worked closely with our financial planner for months to strategize whether it was feasible to exit our careers…
