Discovering Your Purpose in Retirement

Retirement offers something many of us have long wished for…time. The question is what we choose to do with it.

Retirement is something many people spend decades looking forward to. No alarm clock. No commute. More freedom to travel, spend time with friends and finally tackle the things we never seemed to have time for. But then retirement arrives, and for some, an unexpected question comes with it:  Now what?

For much of our adult lives, purpose is built into our days. We have careers to pursue, families to care for, homes to maintain and people who depend on us. Our calendars are full, and those responsibilities often become part of our identity.  When they begin to disappear, retirement can feel wonderfully freeing, but it can also leave a surprising amount of empty space.

Planning for Retirement Should Involve More Than Finances

That’s why planning for retirement should involve more than finances. It’s also worth considering how you want to live, what will give your days meaning and what you want this next chapter to look like.  At Franke Tobey Jones, residents have found remarkably different answers to those questions.

For resident Damian, retirement meant intentionally choosing a slower pace after a rewarding career in healthcare. He wanted leisurely walks with his dog, time to reflect and explore, conversations with friends and opportunities to focus on his health. His newfound purpose wasn’t about doing more, it was about finally having the freedom to slow down and appreciate life.

Resident Braxton B. took a different path. After retiring from civil service, he became active with the Elks Lodge and volunteered with the American Red Cross. He later joined a disaster response team, helping families displaced by fires, floods and tornadoes. He and his wife also volunteered at an Army medical center.  His career ended, but his desire to serve others didn’t.

For Bob G., KF7GPO, retirement provided the opportunity to spend more time on interests that had always been important to him. Free from many of the responsibilities of maintaining a home and reassured that his wife was in a supportive environment, he devoted more time to woodworking and amateur radio. In the Franke Tobey Jones woodshop, he even designed and built a mount for his amateur radio antenna.  Sometimes purpose isn’t about discovering something new. It’s about finally having time for something you’ve always loved.

Then there is Beverly S., whose retirement took an unexpected turn after a DNA test revealed African ancestry in her family. As a historian of early America, the discovery inspired her to examine her own family’s complicated racial history, including African American ancestors, slaveholders and mixed-race marriages. Today, she is writing a book that is part memoir, genealogy and history…an undertaking she views as her contribution to a larger conversation about race in America.

Their experiences offer a useful lesson: There is no single formula for a purposeful retirement. Instead of asking, “What am I going to do with all this time?” perhaps a better question is, “What do I want more of in my life?”

More friendships? Learning? Creativity? Service? Exercise? Adventure? Quiet? Laughter? The answers can provide a roadmap for a retirement built around more than simply filling the hours.

Franke Tobey Jones believes the campus and surrounding environment can help make those possibilities easier to discover. Residents can continue learning through FTJ Senior University, become stronger and more active through fitness programs and walking the beautiful 20-acre campus or the adjacent Point Defiance Park, explore new interests, volunteer, travel on outings and meet new friends through hundreds of classes, programs and social opportunities offered throughout the year.

Retirement doesn’t have to mean stepping away from a purposeful life. It can mean finally having the freedom to choose what that purpose will be. And sometimes, discovering your purpose isn’t about reinventing yourself at all.

It’s about having the time, opportunity and freedom to become more of who you’ve always been.