🎂 Celebrating Dad's 90th & the exploration of a meaningful existence

We spoke about his abundant life and what that truly means. Feeling financially abundant is certainly an aspect we strive for but feeling abundant in health, wellbeing, having a good Mediterranean diet, connection with others and knowing family care are other wonderful aspects of a good life. Just look at the Bluezones!

🍂 I'm currently working with a client who retired recently. She’s been feeling very low, very anxious and very uncertain of what her future holds.

Widowed a few years ago she continued working as a teacher and naturally felt a strong purpose to her life. Her role was exhausting, as most teachers roles are, but she’d planned their retirement together only for the shock of her husband passing away unexpectedly.

Working helped with the grief but retirement then looked very very different. When we retire those familiar structures that we had in place and all the responsibilities of working life can disappear too and that can be a huge shock to the system.

But that doesn't mean the possibilities for a meaningful existence disappear too and that's what we've been exploring to look at what life can be when we retire and the possibilities for a future of meaningful existence.

This isn’t easy to look at when you’ve had a significant loss especially when you start to recognise you’ll have to downsize your home too.

📖 A great book I have by Viktor Frankl - The Unconscious God explores meaning, conscience and human responsibility and has relevance to the transitions we all experience throughout life.

For one person retirement might bring meaning through volunteering, learning new things and new activities. But for someone else meaning might come through a quieter life, enjoying their garden, spending time with their friends or enjoying the freedom of having less responsibilities.

“Living one's conscience always means living on a highly personalized level” says Frankl.

🧐 Who am I when I'm no longer doing what I've always done? I love exploring topics like this as it's fascinating what starts to unravel.

We've had 3 sessions so far and she's dyed her hair!! Oh my gosh if I could take a picture of any client I've had it would be this lady. Seeing a glimpse of light at the end of an extremely dark tunnel is just the best feeling when you see it in a client. There's still a lot of healing to do but she's taking it steadily as there's no rush.

Meaning can sustain us through the most difficult painful times in our lives. Changes happen, it can't be any other way. Our interests change. Our energy changes. Our relationships with work, friends, family change and time and responsibilities change. Scary I know but liberating at the same time.

And on that note of change yesterday I spent time with a friend I don't get to see very often and we met at a half way point in Lancaster to mooch and it was so good to see the Autumnal colours, go shopping and chill at Zizzis.

There can be a lot of sadness in life but also a lot of extraordinary moments happen too🍂

I didn't take a picture of our food because it really wasn't very healthy!!