Be patient with your new you

Truthfully, I still miss my job. I miss the people, the challenges, the accomplishments, the rituals. My whole life centered around education. I was breathing, talking, walking and dreaming about my job. When I retired, I just wanted a rest, a real rest.

What I found was that I had nothing else. Not a thing that had not been in some way related to my work. Even my wake-up times and bedding times were connected to the school calendar that was pacing me and everyone else in my family.

I had to develop a new routine to feel that I was accomplishing things.

My husband, retired a few months ahead of me, had been bugging me with questions about my plans. I kept telling him to relax, I would be fine. But I was not, and for a long time I felt a deep loss of identity.