Let’s Make Retirement – Autumn Of Our Life – The Best Season Yet

Halloooo October, autumn season is here! The richness of nature’s colours is at its best this time of the year, ranging from mellow yellow, burnt orange, deep red to rusty brown. A time when deciduous trees start to shed their leaves, migratory birds embark on their journey to warmer climate, days start to shorten and a final burst of nature’s fiery in splendid deviance before giving in to the starkness of winter. 

Autumn is my favourite season, especially in the eastern part of Holland, where the landscape becomes breathtakingly stunning. Autumn is a time when bonfires are aplenty in the Dutch countryside, where game – both hunting and eating – takes on a gleeful fervour, pumpkins of all sizes and colours show up everywhere – in dishes and decorations.

This changing of season is the most vivid reminder of the wonder and beauty of nature.

It makes me think how aptly nature’s seasons reflect our lives.

Spring signals new beginnings, awakening, freshness and growth, much like the first 20 – 25 formative years of  life where the foundation of our characters are laid. This is a time of learning and growth, filled with enthusiasm, discovery, hope and sense of wonder. Life is full of possibilities and promises. 

The next 20 – 25 years can be compared to Summer where our foundation and values become more defined. Adulthood takes form, building on and fortifying our character and personality. This is the time when we work hard, play hard and chase the various aspects life has to offer. Most of us spend this period building a career, setting up  family, solidifying who we are, making use of this prime time when our body and mind are at the peak to maximise our potential. Hopes and possibilities are turned to reality.

After the zenith of long summer days and intensive activities comes Autumn, a period of winding down, of maturity and richness. It coincides with the age between 50 to 70s. It is a stage where one reflects and contemplates about the knowledge gained, the person we have become, the joys and sadness experienced, the richness of our lives, letting our experience shine through and celebrating our accomplishments. A time to appreciate and enjoy the fruits of our labour, and the wisdom to accept our shortcomings and failures. 

Then comes winter, a season where everything comes to rest, dormancy or hibernation. The colours of autumn give way to starkness and shades of white, grey and brown. I reckon winter years as starting from age 70 and is a time where life’s rhythm slows and we turn  increasingly turn inwards, examining life and accepting it as panned out.

Autumn is the season that so aptly captures the retirement phase of life, where I am right now. Reaching this stage gives me a good perspective to look back on and to take stock of where I am, and to confront myself if I am satisfied with the set path or to change course as I now have the good sense and means to make changes if I want. I have the self-assuredness and courage to let go of unrealistic goals, youthful idealism, broken dreams and things that no longer fit into my life.

Clearing up and packing to move from 1 big house to an apartment in Amsterdam and a cottage house in the east part of Holland, I finally made the decision to dispose of my old hockey gear, tennis rackets, a sewing machine and CDs. Stuff I shipped to Holland when I first moved here to start a new life with my then-partner, now my husband. 

I’ve come to accept that I am no longer fit enough or want to attend intensive training sessions to be on a hockey team, despite it being a coveted and glamorous sport in the Netherlands. That the tibia ligament of my right knee will never fully recover to allow for full rotary movement due to a tennis injury sustained years ago. 

That I have too much on my agenda to be able to sit at a sewing machine, even though sewing holds many warm memories of my grandmother, of conversations sitting beside her when she sewed.

And neither of us own a CD player anymore so our intent of listening to the self-mixed recordings of soul-funk, Motown and jazz compilation will not happen, despite the fuzzy warm feelings they invoke. 

Letting go is hard yet at the same time uplifting as it creates space for new energy to flow through. It clears the slate for new discoveries and experiences.

At this point in my life, I feel strong and assured. Even though I do not know fully what I want, I do know by now what I do not want. That is perhaps more important because it keeps me away from things that do not add to my life, while allowing for the unanticipated and the unplanned by not limiting myself to what I think I want. Give serendipity a chance!

Retirement is a time to showcase the full texture and fabric of the life one has woven, backed by wisdom, valuable experiences – good as well as bad. Every stitch or flaw adding to the pattern that becomes the person we are, intentional or unplanned, making each life unique and special. And like the trees in autumn with their explosion of colours, retirement is the best time to celebrate and showcase in full splendour and brilliance who we are, and to be proud of it.

If you are in retirement, congratulations for making it from survival to thrive mode. It is an opportune time to reflect and contemplate how your life measures up to Maslow’s hierarchy, particularly the highest need of self-actualisation, which is the only ‘growth need’ as opposed to the other 4 ‘deficiency needs’ where one becomes anxious if such needs are not met but does not become exalted when fulfilled. 

Self-actualisation, on the other hand, motivates one to attain our full potential and become the best that we can be. Reaching this stage means seeking to develop our capabilities to achieve happiness. For some, this extends beyond self to doing good for the community, society or humanity at large. This is the ultimate state of being in balance with oneself and to be truly happy.

So let’s embrace and make use of our autumn years to shine, showcase our best qualities and strive to be the best version of ourselves.

Live brilliantly…and Happy Halloween!

Savvy Maverick