Finding Purpose in Retirement

Like millions upon millions of Americans, my purpose in life is strongly associated with my job. This is true, not just because I work for a Christian organization or do work that might be considered “religious.” In the past, when I had a house painting business, co-owned a coin dealership, ran a small office of a for-profit educational company, or served as a teaching fellow at Harvard, my purpose and my work were deeply connected. It’s been that way for me since my very first job as a lawn mower.

Purpose and Our Work

The connection between purpose and work has been part of our human DNA from the beginning . . . literally, the Beginning. In the first chapters of Genesis, God creates human beings in God’s own image. God, the first worker, made us to be God’s own co-workers. Thus, in the initial command of Scripture God says to the first man and woman, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Gen 1:28). In other words, get to work! Then, in Genesis 2, God creates the man and then the woman, putting them “in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it” (2:15). Our chief purpose according to this verse is to make the world productive and take good care of it. The narrative in Genesis 2 implies another key purpose of human life that was explicit in Genesis 1, namely making more people.

The connection between purpose and work has been part of our human DNA from the beginning . . . literally, the Beginning.

Though sometimes we dislike our work and it can feel purposeless if not oppressive, nevertheless we strongly associate our purpose in life with our work—both paid and unpaid work. Our purpose-shaped work can include things like raising children, taking care of a home, teaching Sunday School, volunteering in a homeless shelter, caring for an aging parent, and so forth.

But for many of us, the most significant and purposeful work we do in life is what we call our job. It’s where we spend a great number of our waking hours. It’s what we think about or fret about even when we’re not on the job. It provides financial support for us and our families. It gives us a sense of accomplishment and identity. And it provides a primary expression for our purpose in life.

What Happens After We Retire from Our Jobs?

And then, one day, we retire. At least that’s true for millions of older adults in the United States. On Monday we go to work as we have done for decades. But this time, at the end of the day we collect our personal effects and take them home in a box. On Tuesday morning we don’t go to work. We don’t go on Wednesday or Thursday or Friday, either. In fact, our plan is not to go to work on any Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays from here on, for many years if not many decades. We are retired! Yahoo!

For a while, we’ll likely be delighted by retirement. We’ll feel free in a new way. No more punching the clock. No more answering to “the man” (or “the woman”). Robert Atchley, author of The Sociology of Retirement and one of the first scholars to study retirement, suggests that most people experience “The Honeymoon Phase” shortly after they stop working. He describes this phase as “a rather euphoric period in which the individual wallows in his newfound freedom of time and space.” Atchley explains that “the honeymoon period of retirement may be quite short or it may extend for years, depending on the resources available to the individual and his imaginativeness in using them.”

Yet, as in marriage, retirement honeymoons don’t last. At some point, people who retire enter “The Disenchantment Phase,” according to Atchley. He writes, “After the honeymoon is over and life begins to slow down, some people experience a period of let-down, disenchantment, or even depression.”

Yet, as in marriage, retirement honeymoons don’t last.

Part of what retired people miss is a strong sense of purpose in life, purpose that had at one time been associated with their job. Even if your job wasn’t especially pleasant or likable, at least it gave you a sense of purpose, even a reason to get up in the morning. When I was in college, my job was cleaning bathrooms. Not especially glorious or a jewel on my resume. But I actually took pride in making sure my bathrooms were spotless. My larger purpose at that time had to do with my education, of course. But I would say I was a purposeful bathroom cleaner as I earned money for college.

Of course, some people who retire already have a strong sense of purpose in life. But, as I have talked with dozens and dozens of retiring or retired people in the last few years, I have repeatedly heard about their need to find purpose. Once they pass through the honeymoon phase, in which freedom is paramount, their hearts seek something more, something worth living for, some purpose to guide their lives. And when people retire before they choose to do so, they can bypass the honeymoon phase altogether.

How Can We Find Purpose in Retirement?

So, this brings us to the big question: How can I go about finding purpose in retirement?

Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I’ve been working hard on this question for several years. I have read a giant stack of books on this subject, not to mention hundreds of research studies related to purpose and aging. I’ve talked with dozens and dozens of people in classes, conferences, churches, and cohorts, learning about their experiences of purpose and the third third of life. Plus, in the last six months, I have spent the majority of my working hours developing a new course for the De Pree Center called Purpose in the Third Third of Life. So, I have lots of significant things to say about purpose, and my ideas are well-informed (even though in some ways they’re still being formed). That’s the good news.

The bad news is that I can’t even begin to share in this article much of what I’ve learned through my years of research. I could easily go on for more than a hundred pages talking about finding purpose in retirement. But in the classic phrase of Dana Carvey, “Wouldn’t be prudent!”

Seven Things to Know about Purpose in Retirement

In the limited space I have left, I will share with you a few key learnings about purpose in retirement. Perhaps these will whet your appetite for more.

1. Older adults who have a strong sense of purpose tend to live well physically, mentally, and relationally.

2. But purpose in life tends to decline as we get older. Retirement often contributes to this decline.

3. Research shows, however, that there are ways for older adults to maintain a strong sense of purpose.

4. Our purpose in life is a reflection of God’s purpose for all things, including us.

5. We can learn a great deal about God’s purpose for all things, including us, through careful study of Scripture.

6. We can receive, clarify, craft, and live our purpose if we learn to pay attention to things like what God is putting on our hearts or our core values.

7. It is possible to live purposefully in the third third of life, thus living with gratitude and joy.

If you’d like to learn more about purpose in retirement, you can check out the De Pree Center’s new Purpose in the Third Third of Life online course.