Last week, I volunteered to share my vision board as part of Rev. Kitty’s message. If you were in that service, you are aware that I have been looking forward to potential retirement this year. This is a scary step and I was waffling like crazy about when and how to do it. I was afraid to talk to my boss; what if I set a date and then realized it was a mistake! At this same time, I knew that I wasn’t as passionate about my job as I had been. I know I want to do other things. As the reality of retirement started to come into focus, so many doubts were driving me nuts. Do I have enough money saved? How do I manage selling my house with my octogenarian mother living in it? Can she manage another move with her current memory loss? Do I move to NC right away? Or do I stay in Naperville until my mother transitions? Do I have enough money to stay in Naperville? Talk about crazy-making and a mind that just wouldn’t shut down and went in circles.
Fast forward to the work week. Anyone can tell you that the one thing you can count on in business is change. The company I work for determined that transforming our focus and size is essential to continued growth. This includes re-organization and ‘right-sizing’ the Research & Development group. Here is where the magic starts…I am part of that ‘right-sizing’. After the initial shock, I was in awe of how perfect the situation is for me. I have been asked to stay on through August to help in the transition of my team to my colleague, I will be provided a nice severance package at that time, and there is other support as needed. I couldn’t have asked for a softer landing in retirement.
It seems so amazing to me that I would be sharing my vision board focused on retirement on Sunday and 5 days later would be provided such an easy exit plan; knowing well in advance of the day I will be retiring with enough time to answer all the questions that have been hanging over me, not to mention that I am actually being paid to retire!! Could it get any better?
A friendly warning to all…be sure you are VERY CLEAR about what you want, because Picturing/Visioning works! Hmmm…maybe it could get better, maybe I need to put ‘Lottery Winner’ on my board, too.
Suzanne Case
