No one who knew me was surprised to see that I was more frightened than thrilled as the prospect of retirement.  I hate change! 

So what did I do? First I talked with a quiet counselor who told me it was just fine to grieve, as I was leaving a life I loved.  Then, I wrote!  I have always been a sporadic journaler, and this retirement passage got me writing again.  It became the way I could listen to myself and learn about myself.   I could celebrate and record the things about my working life that I loved.  I could mourn that this part of my life was going to be behind me.  I could be honest about my fears.  I could reassure myself over and over.  I could record my baby steps at trying new activities and meeting new people. Writing about what I was experiencing made me really notice that phases I was going through.  THANKS FOR YOUR JOURNAL!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 11:00 am and is filed under Life's Transitions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.