ER Eddie
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
- Messages
- 1,788
Just curious. Did your personality change after retirement? If so, how? Did you find certain traits necessary in the work environment drop away? Did you find yourself able to cultivate different parts of your personality, once work was out of the picture?
I ask because I know that the type of work I do has changed me, over the years. I'm still the same at my core, but my personality has also been shaped by my work. Some of the changes have been good -- I'm less gullible, more incisive in my thinking, more confident in my judgment. But some of the changes have been negative -- I'm more skeptical of others; I over-value the rational at the expense of the other parts of life; I'm less able to be spontaneously open with people. (Those are just some examples.)
I've been wondering, if I retired, would or could my personality change? Not at a core level, of course. I am who I am. But at more secondary levels, could I grow different sorts of traits, maybe resurrect some of them that have withered on the vine during my career? Could other traits recede, once work no longer reinforced and required them?
So I thought I'd ask, did your personality change after retirement? If so, how?
I ask because I know that the type of work I do has changed me, over the years. I'm still the same at my core, but my personality has also been shaped by my work. Some of the changes have been good -- I'm less gullible, more incisive in my thinking, more confident in my judgment. But some of the changes have been negative -- I'm more skeptical of others; I over-value the rational at the expense of the other parts of life; I'm less able to be spontaneously open with people. (Those are just some examples.)
I've been wondering, if I retired, would or could my personality change? Not at a core level, of course. I am who I am. But at more secondary levels, could I grow different sorts of traits, maybe resurrect some of them that have withered on the vine during my career? Could other traits recede, once work no longer reinforced and required them?
So I thought I'd ask, did your personality change after retirement? If so, how?