The Retirement Identity Crisis

Retirement

If you removed your job, your achievements, your possessions, your social status and your responsibilities, what would remain that you would still recognise as “you”?

Now in my late fifties, I find myself at a threshold, a pivotal moment that could redefine me.

For most of my adult life, I have defined who I am partly through what I do.

I’m a teacher.

And this job gives me a ready-made identity, a place to belong in society, responsibilities, colleagues, routines and a sense that my existence has some sort of purpose.

Then one day, when I turn 65, a decision that has been made largely outside my control will bring that chapter to an end.

Which might sound potentially liberating to some. Not having to work anymore conjures a sense of freedom beyond wildest dreams for others. But it can also be strangely daunting.

I believe retirement isn’t simply the end of work. It is an opportunity to reshape our identity we’ve been rehearsing for much of our lives.

So one of the main tasks for my retirement will be discovering who I am when the occupational label is removed.

My job, I have realised, provides an extraordinary amount of psychological scaffolding.