Another season. People around you are telling you how you should be feeling – excited? Cautious? Lucky? And they may also be transferring to you their own feelings about their own situation, which may or may not be helpful for you to figure out how it is for you.

Well-meaning people close to you also may have an agenda! Without that being a positive or negative agenda.

I have in mind a picture of clearing the desk to see what is useful amongst all the voices and emotions – pushing the paperwork out of the way to see what actually needs attention. What do you hope for from this next part of your life – which may feel like a completely new territory? What would you love to be doing?  – with whom? – where?  What is the ache or longing that you now might be able to connect with? And what does the thinking need to look like for you – do you need plans, tasks, ideas? Do you need to explore your identity after your professional or work-life is complete? Recognise your worries? Build a sense of comfort…..?

And then you might re-engage with other people’s perspectives, with a stronger sense of what your retirement needs to look like for you. 

Would it help to have a thinking partner alongside you as you clear the papers off the desk and see what needs to be seen for this next season? How might that help you engage with your retirement?