There is a presumption that life, after the cessation of your career, gets easier. I suppose, it’s true in certain ways. The responsibilities of leadership, competition, earning, running a business or practice, or being at the forefront of your specialty change.
They go away! Poof! They’re there one day and gone the next.
But that cessation doesn’t mean life gets easier. It just means that chapter is completed. Life’s challenges continue unabated, but they just shift to something else. Concerns over health, relationships, finding meaning and purpose, growing or maintaining social networks, and financial matters take their place.
My father, the consummate workaholic, used to bemoan the challenges. “When does it get easier?” as he navigated difficult family dynamics, health issues, and a myriad of other obstacles he found along the way.
In truth, I didn’t understand. The reality is it NEVER gets easier! The obstacles and challenges just change.
As I age, I believe that all the “stuff” that came before was preparation for what is now. It requires us to grow, adapt, learn, and change to the new paradigm, the next challenge. The question is: are you ready, willing, and able to meet them when they land in your lap?
The fact is you’ve been preparing all your life to handle each new change, each new challenge, each new obstacle. You never “asked” for each problem along your life path, but you met it nonetheless.
Why stop now?
