Retirement: One of Life’s Thresholds
Life is about crossing thresholds – literally and symbolically.
When entering a house one crosses a threshold, this is usually a wood board at the base of the door frame. Thresholds are mitered to make the transitions between rooms possible, and to differentiate between spaces.
Thresholds are also an essential part of what it means to be human. One’s first breath involves crossing a threshold, leaving the womb and entering this wonderful, confusing, rewarding and challenging place called life. It is the first of many threshold moments.
One’s first day in school is a threshold.
The first time a person is left out and feels rejection – and most importantly how one handles that – is a threshold.
The first romantic impulses and interests a person has – and how one makes sense of all of that – is a threshold.
Important factors affect how well we do in these threshold moments. Self-awareness, clarity of intention, enabling resources, motivation, and supportive relationships affect our ability to move through life. For instance:
Children born into an addict’s home are handicapped, compromised, and challenged from the beginning.
Some youth after high school are not ready for college. They lack the motivation or maturity to succeed, and stumble crossing the threshold into early adulthood.
Retirement is a threshold. It involves leaving one space and entering a totally new way of being in the world. Unfortunately, there are very few programs to help us cross this important threshold. That’s why LeaderWise has created Flourishing in Retirement for those planning their retirement or recently retired.
Past generations did not know the word retirement. In earlier times, in an agrarian society with family and multigenerational connections, people didn’t retire. When a person‘s body could not do everything it once did, older adults took on different responsibilities within the family unit. There was a sense of continuity with work, play, and relationships. We no longer live in that kind of world.
In today’s work environment, for many, retirement is like leaving a mother’s womb, but being fully engaged and conscious of what is going on… including feelings and decisions to be made.
Life is about thresholds, and how we navigate each one. Retirement is one of life‘s developmental stages that we can understand and demystify thanks to developmental psychologist Erik Erikson. Erikson talks about the eight developmental stages of life. Each stage is a building block, or foundation, onto which the next stage is built. According to Erikson, the retirement years are about ego integrity versus despair. Ego integrity or being at peace is our final task. This workshop is designed to help us get to that place.
The LeaderWise workshop for Flourishing in Retirement is a cohort-based learning experience. It is designed to help individuals who are 5 years from retirement or recently retired to negotiate transitions and optimally manage this threshold. Participants will (as confirmed by past participants) :
Learn from each other.
Discover new insights for flourishing in this new chapter of life.
Apply relevant theories to expand how to think and plan for retirement,
Explore new possibilities for their retirement years.
Discover hope and joy through interviews and conversations with family and peers.
Those who are wanting a holistic approach for planning retirement that goes beyond the advice of a financial advisor, you are invited to join the 6 session workshop/cohort called Flourishing in Retirement. This workshop begins on February 21, 2024. Register here or contact LeaderWise for more information.
