Reimagining Retirement

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

I had been praying and thinking about what I would do next now that I decided to retire from decades as a psychologist. After almost a year away from my former life, my borders expanded. I began to hear stories of people who could benefit from a person to support them during their doctor visits. Maybe they did not have family available to go with them or they were not comfortable asking family or friends for help. Whatever their reason, I realized there are people who could benefit from another person to listen and be supportive while they see their physician. Yes, I could do this! Certainly this must be where God was directing me. I have sat with people both as a former pastor and as a counselor. Additionally, the focus of my career and education for the past two decades has been on health and wellness. I could offer a service where I charged my counselor rate for helping people navigate their doctor visits.

I began talking about it with friends and family as well as people who worked in healthcare. Everyone I talked with about my doctor visit service said it would be useful. Everyone that is except my eight-year-old granddaughter. She said, “Mimi, it won’t work because no one wants a stranger in the doctor’s office with them.” Hmm, she had a point. I began to have doubts. Is this really God calling me, if the slightest (especially from an eight-year-old) disapproval would cause me to question what I’m supposed to do? How do I know if this opportunity to serve is the retirement plan God has for me? It checks several boxes, except the box of certainty. Should I have more than one plan? Shouldn’t I be more excited? Am I just afraid to live with uncertainty?

I don’t know. What I do know is the retirement model I saw in my parent’s generation does not fit me, my friends, or you. (I know, because you’ve told me!) And according to Mary Catherine Bateson, cultural anthropologist and author of Composing a Further Life, “retirement has changed its meaning. . . . Increased longevity will challenge us to. . . discover unexpected possibilities.” This is our opportunity to ask new questions: What are my possibilities? What does retirement look like for me? Also, how do I answer those retirement questions when I’m uncertain of my future plans myself?

Give me a few moments to respond to the questions. Not to answer them, but to join a conversation that is expanding as the number of people who reach retirement age grows. There are articles on your financial health, on the value of your relationships after leaving your work community, and on playing games for fun. All part of the psychological and emotional retirement journey. My interest is, of course, the spiritual well-being that is at the core of a meaningful retirement in the third third of life (55 years and over). Once I know what gives my life meaning, then I realize it’s not actually retirement that causes anxiety or uncertainty, but the doubt or wavering faith that narrows my vision about the future. Let me offer you some “faith shots” that will energize your hope and allow you to think of how retirement expands possibilities, not limits them.

Once I know what gives my life meaning, then I realize it’s not actually retirement that causes anxiety or uncertainty, but the doubt or wavering faith that narrows my vision about the future.

No Wrong Door

When I was in seminary at Perkins School of Theology, one of my professors, Dr. Susanne Johnson, gave me some words that still have meaning after thirty years. I was trying to decide whether to stay in Dallas at Perkins and take an internship in religious communications at a local television station or to accept a position as editor at the United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH) in Nashville, TN. Both were in line with what I felt were my purpose and God’s plan, religious communications. One choice involved moving across the country and uprooting my five-year-old daughter from her father’s family and our support. As a single parent, her dislocation was my biggest consideration. Also important was that the UMPH position would provide a salary, which the internship did not.

After I presented my dilemma to Susanne, she said, “God is not a Let’s Make a Deal God. You are not presented with only one great choice and the other choices are the booby prize. All of the choices God gives you are good and will bless you in some way” (emphasis mine). When I realized that my faith in God was the factor that would make any situation work, I became an editor and didn’t look back. Most importantly, my daughter flourished in our new community.

That happened three decades ago. Today, when I see retirement through the lens of Susanne’s wisdom, it is still valuable. It opens me to more possibilities rather than limiting my choices. Jeremiah 29:11 confirms that God does not offer us booby prizes, but choices that will lead to our flourishing. We need to reimagine how we define retirement so that we can envision a future where we prosper despite our choices, because God has more than one plan for our lives. Being retired does not put us in a box, in fact, I want to make plain what I mean by “reimagining retirement.” Retirement does not confine us, but allows us to expand, explore, and also exhale!

• Expand how you talk about retirement—Use language that excites you and moves you forward.
• Explore big and little possibilities—Who knows where a “yes” will take you.
• Exhale your fear and doubt—Allow your history of faith in God to move you forward.

We need to reimagine how we define retirement so that we can envision a future where we prosper despite our choices, because God has more than one plan for our lives.

Live Your Faith

Faith is the evidence of things unseen. If you are uncertain about what God’s plan is for you, continue to walk by faith, not by what the culture dictates about retirement. In these uncertain times, we have no idea how our skills will be used or how we may be called to serve. As I focused on faith, my fear and doubts were minimized.

My refresher course on faith is owed to a friend and colleague, Lafayette Richardson. We both once worked for the same international church agency. In his work as a sound engineer, he traveled and worked globally, producing and shepherding media projects. While working there, he also took freelance assignments. (A helpful strategy for pre-retirement.) Then he was “retired” from that job after almost twenty years due to downsizing.

But his faith that things would work out allowed him to keep going. Lafayette welcomed new opportunities. He was asked to teach at a university because he had nurtured relationships outside of his job. He increased his freelance work, and at the same time, he built a property management business that has exceeded his expectations. Was early retirement a setback? No, though it was unsettling. It was also an opportunity to shift, expand, and explore! In retirement, we may have to unexpectedly construct a new identity and revise our goals. But your faith can keep you moving forward. Your faith can give you the courage to look beyond what you know to the adventure of a new plan or even multiple opportunities. God has a future planned for you that only requires your faith in “unexpected possibilities.”

In retirement, we may have to unexpectedly construct a new identity and revise our goals. But your faith can keep you moving forward.

Doing A New Thing

As you think about reimagining retirement or moving into something new during this third third of life, our own Mark Roberts and Michaela O’Donnell offer excellent insights and resources that answer questions on knowing your purpose and taking “doable risks.” Both articles help you explore the “what’s next” of retirement. That question aligns nicely with my questions: Is this God’s plan for me? And, How can we re-imagine retirement to reflect our future self?

I don’t have answers, but I’d like to begin a discussion. Please share your retirement stories. Your responses will shape my article next month, with your permission. I would also enjoy hearing what you suggest we call this life change that begins your future. I invite you to share your questions and experiences with retirement to enrich our community and our conversation. Please leave a comment or email me at [email protected]. I am excited as we, in community, give new meaning to what has previously been known as retirement. We know it is another opportunity to embrace God’s plan for a future fueled by faith and hope. Let’s redefine retirement. Who knows if I will become the “patient whisperer” in doctor offices or follow another path. But I am confident that I will not leave this journey the same way I began. And I hope you won’t either.