One of the hosts of the Midlife Circus podcast said this on a recent episode:
“…trust in yourself…we can figure this stuff out. That’s kind of our generational motto, right?
…we’re the generation that had to go and figure stuff out. We were left to fend for ourselves.”
He was referencing making big decisions about your next great act in life after retiring including:
- Where you will live
- What you will do
- Finding meaning and purpose
And, he was also addressing what you would do when your plans don’t work out the way you expected them to.
On the podcast, they highlighted stories from several of their fellow GenXrs who had retired slightly early and made major changes. One couple sold their 4BR home in Colorado and downsized to a condo on the beach in St. Thomas. They didn’t have a nest egg egg large enough to support full retirement. Now 7 years later they have no regrets. The wife teaches school and the husband does boat engine repair to supplement their savings. (Both were traditional suburban white collar professionals before this.)
Another couple, coming from a similar background also sold their large family home and purchased a 1 bedroom condo in the US because they wanted a place that they could walk away from for 3 months a year while they traveled. They now “move” for 3 months each year to live like locals in towns in Italy, France and other desirable places.
Another retiree dedicated a year to walking the El Camino trail.
I could list dozens more examples from other podcasts, but you get the idea. All of these people left well paying, often highly satisfying careers during the peak of their careers to transition to something entirely new.
I get that. I did the same thing while I was drowning in waves of sadness following my wife’s death. In hindsight, I’m grateful that I made quite a few rational decisions despite that fact that I was completely out of my mind during that time.
But still, he was right.
I figured it out.
I always have. As a kid, I learned to do this from a very young age because I had no choice. Even before my parents divorced and my father disappeared from my life, I was doing chores, handling my own laundry, cooking some of my meals, getting myself to school, dealing with bullies/school/my sister/friends and many of life’s challenges on my own.
By the time I was 8, it felt like I was on my own. I didn’t have to earn money for food and rent and clothes. My mother, who worked all the time, took care of that. Everything else fell on me and my sister (another GenXr).
We figured it out.
Lately, I’ve had to deal with a significant injury and some chronic issues that led to me making significant changes to the comfortable, predictable life I’ve built in the 7 years since I’ve been an early retired widower.
This transition have brought a number of challenges – many injury related, some age related and some due to me getting stuck in my routines without examining them closely (and more importantly, rationally).
It’s funny though – before I listened to that podcast I had another unexpected setback and I just shook my head and said to myself, “It’ll be OK, ‘ll figure it out.”
So will you.