Retirement

One cannot simply "retire" and expect something to automatically take the place of whatever you were doing.  One has to work at retirement.  Retirement is a transition rather than a going from one thing to no thing.  A simple example is recovery from addictive behavior.  One does not stop drinking and expect something to take its place without some effort.  No effort, no daily work at a non-addictive life and one goes back to addiction.  One "works" recovery with steps and fellowship and service.  If one retires from a career, a work, there is no such thing as a healthy nothing.  Each day is a gift of life for a purpose.  Retirement allows us to move from one purpose to another.  One can start retirement with a specific plan and the plan can morph over time to a new lifestyle, a you still growing as a person.  I don't think that I have retired, though some people think I have.  Be that as it may, I try to stay open.  Work is a way of loving ourselves and others.  The work can change but love grounds us.  One would hope.