RETIREMENT | PERSONAL GROWTH
The Secrets of Retirement No One Tells You
Maybe my pain can become your gain
Sitting alone in our trailer, I feel darkness descending on me like a cold shiver that starts in my spine. My body begins to tingle, or maybe it’s more like a buzz, and I slump further under the blanket covering my legs. It’s a beautiful fall day in Washington State, so why do I feel like I’m sinking into the chilly gray water of Puget Sound?
When we retired a little over two years ago, I wasn’t aware there’d be days like this. All I saw before me was space and freedom. But in everything, there is light and darkness, yin and yang, bliss and sadness. I chide myself now for being idealistically ignorant about retired life.
When I walked away from my career as a healthcare manager, I was more than ready to leave behind my never-ending in-box, strategic decision-making, and the weightiness that came from caring for seventy employees and eight separate facilities.
So many things surprised me in retirement, and now, two years in, I’m surprised again. Maybe my surprises can become someone else’s strategies for success.
