Khan
Gone but not forgotten
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2006
- Messages
- 6,924
After retirement (and aging) I was not: parent, child, student, teacher, employee.
Now I have lost other definitions of self:
I have lost 80# and this body and what it does is new to me.
(My identity as a fat person is gone.)
After years of retirement I have lost my fear/avoidance of people and have slowly tried making social connections.
(My identity as a hermit/curmudgeon/cynic is mostly gone.)
As the symptoms of stress have gone away I have nothing to replace them; I didn't like them, but they were part of my identity for a long time.
(Being happy/content is a new identity.)
What is left?
Do I need an identity or purpose or definition?
These musings don't threaten or frighten me; I just wonder what I'll find when I finally reach the bottom after all that digging.
Maybe I've discovered why sometimes people don't want to retire.
For unclemick: Ralph?
Now I have lost other definitions of self:
I have lost 80# and this body and what it does is new to me.
(My identity as a fat person is gone.)
After years of retirement I have lost my fear/avoidance of people and have slowly tried making social connections.
(My identity as a hermit/curmudgeon/cynic is mostly gone.)
As the symptoms of stress have gone away I have nothing to replace them; I didn't like them, but they were part of my identity for a long time.
(Being happy/content is a new identity.)
What is left?
Do I need an identity or purpose or definition?
These musings don't threaten or frighten me; I just wonder what I'll find when I finally reach the bottom after all that digging.
Maybe I've discovered why sometimes people don't want to retire.
For unclemick: Ralph?
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