Jobless or Retired: What’s in a Name?

Semantics is everything. When should I stop telling people I am unemployed and start calling myself retired? Unemployed sounds like I am temporarily between jobs which due to my health status is not the case. But retired sounds so final, so old.  Should I now be playing shuffleboard or card games during the day? In my mind I will always be 25 and truthfully, even 61 doesn’t sound so old now that I am pushing 62. I have accepted this new stage of my life, but I can’t get past the language. It sounds weird to my ears to hear the words retirement come out of my mouth, me, a retiree?
 
How do most people prepare for this mentally? My retirement was thrust upon me because I was no longer capable of managing the daily grind at work. I had several months to come to terms with what I needed to do which was give up a job I really loved. I have accepted my status. I am happy to be at home, so it should be simple to say, “I’m retired now.” But it makes me feel like I will be judged by the rest of the world as nonproductive.
 
Perception is important to me. I don’t want others to think I no longer have anything meaningful to add to a conversation just because I am no longer employed. If anything, I now have the time to read more books, see more films and pursue hobbies that I didn’t have time for when I was working. I don’t want to believe that even though I am not physically able to handle the demands of a career people think less of me just because I am not bringing home a paycheck.   Of course once the Social Security checks will start to arrive maybe it will be a lot easier to say, “I’m retired from work, but definitely not from life!”

Categories: Retirement, Unemployment, Career Management & Transition, Job Search Help