How shall I live the rest of my life? This is one of the most important questions anyone can ask themselves at any age, and this is a relevant question for anyone who is in their 50s or 60s and planning to retire. Retiring from a life long career, selling one’s home, moving to a new community, like Sequim, Washington, leaving all things familiar in your community (friends, doctors, stores), buying a new home, getting re-established in a new community, making new friends, and finding a new church is perhaps the largest calculated transition of your life, and one which allows you to seriously consider the question, “How shall I live the rest of my life?”
How Shall I Live?
There are several other major life transitions or phases in life, including the obvious, graduating from school and going to work, getting married, having children, divorcing, and suffering the loss of a spouse. Some of these are not planned and force a transition, but most of these earlier transitions happen in the hustle and bustle of life, and we are so busy working, raising children, and paying bills, that we hardly have time or energy to think about a question like, “How Shall I Live The Rest of My Life?”
How Shall I Live Now in Retirement?
But when you retire, this question has both relevance and opportunity. It has always been relevant, but for the first time in your life, you now have the opportunity to design your life and answer the question, “How Shall I Live The Rest of My Life?” without the major distractions you’ve had in all the earlier phases of your life. Your children are grown up, your day-to-day challenges just surviving and fighting the common battles of life are all behind you.
Life will still be full of challenges, of course, but growing older presents different kinds of challenges. As you consider moving to Sequim to retire, buy a home, and get settled into a new community of friends and activities, I want to exhort you to re-visit the all important question, “How Shall I Live The Rest of My Life?”
Just reflecting on this question, and discussing it with your beloved, your life will be enriched. A retirement lived chaotically is a formula for failure. A retirement you design in a way that meets your personal needs and passions will bring you satisfaction and a deep sense of joy.
Sequim has become the delight of many retirees, and I hope it is for you, too. If your retirement is to be the next and best phase of your life, you must live your life intentionally. Know what you believe and how you will live the rest of your life. Reflecting on these things could enrich your life immeasurably. I would challenge you to post this question on your refrigerator or on your mirror, “How shall I live the rest of my life?”
Last Updated on September 7, 2019 by Chuck Marunde
