Thoughts on Getting Started

Getting started is often the most difficult part of anything worth doing. There are many reasons for this, and one could write pages and pages concerning exactly why getting started is so hard. Fear of change, fear of the future, all of the "what if?" scenarios. The list could go on and on. No matter what the fear is, however, it is important to recognize that change will occur whether we choose to be active in it or passive. “Getting started” implies actively pursuing something that will not occur otherwise. This is true. However, “getting started” also hides in various life events and seasons, and we must proactively recognize the opportunities to “get started.”

Take for instance the transition from a life of work into retirement. If you have been planning for retirement then you know the day is coming when you will no longer be working, and you will find yourself in a new season of life. What will that look like? Will you spend your time traveling? Will you become more involved at your local church, or will you spend your time volunteering in the community? Maybe you plan to be more involved with your grandchildren or other family. These are all exciting and positive things, however, retirement can be scary as well. Maybe you haven’t planned for retirement as well as you would have liked and you are worried how far your resources will take you. Maybe retiring means spending more time at home. Home isn’t the happiest place for everyone. Whether or not retirement is exciting or frightening, that change will happen and you can choose to be either an active or passive participant.

How will you get started in retirement? Will you take steps to ensure you are living the life you want to live? Do you understand your values well enough to create fulfilling goals? Or is your plan to simply hope to enjoy whatever life looks like once you are not working anymore? Retirement is a new chapter. Your story will be written one way or another, but you have to decide if you will truly have a part in it. So what? How do you “get started?” 

Getting started is going to look different for everyone. For some it will be as simple as writing down their goals and taking meaningful steps toward them. Maybe you’ve always had a dream of getting your private pilot’s license (I’m definitely not speaking for myself here). You could dream about it and plan, and plan, and plan, but you’ll never get that license if you don’t make a phone call to a flight school and schedule your first lesson. Maybe your marriage has grown cold, and you’re hoping that things will change once you are done working. Maybe the will, and maybe they won’t. You could just wait and see how things pan out, or you could define your goal for marriage and take a first step of seeking out a professional Christian counselor that can help you reach that goal.

For others goals for retirement and aging might be a little more ambiguous. You might have no idea what you expect retirement to be like and have no concept of what goals you might define. You may have never even thought of retirement or aging as areas where you should set goals! How do you get started? Do you arbitrarily choose some goals? This might work out, but it might not. You may end up pursuing different things and finding that you are not fulfilled by any of them. A good first step in getting started might be to meet with someone to help you explore and identify your values. As a Christian Counselor, this is one of the most fulfilling things in my work—helping others define what is important to them, and where they find hope for the future.



All this is to say is its important to get started, and not allow retirement or aging to get started without you. Retirement can be one of the most joyful and rewarding seasons of your life, but if you don’t take ownership and control of writing this next chapter, it will be written for you. Get started today!