Fight Or Flight! As Boomers Approach Retirement
Author: Jan Barosh, Sue Trumpfheller, Rosemary Hauschild, Stephanie Wood
You married for better or worse . . . but not for lunch?
The sun set on your honeymoon many years ago.
Your kids are approaching or have recently arrived at young adulthood.
You have been living in different domains—at the office—and now you are transitioning into sharing the same domain—your home—but who is in charge?
You are reclaiming your life . . . with no longer matching goals. One wants adventure (flight) . . . one wants to make it work (fight).
If you recognize this scenario, you are not alone. Millions of Baby Boomers are approaching retirement and asking “Who am I?” and “What is my life about?” And if you are part of a couple, there is more at stake than just adopting a new lifestyle.
So before you buy the red convertible and flee with the blonde 20 years your junior, or your young and handsome personal trainer, you may want to stop and take a look at how you can recapture your dreams through openly communicating your needs to your mate, identifying the negotiables, and reinventing your marriage.
If you “want to be me”, but you’re not sure how to “evolve into yourself”, you may find that participating in classes which address this common need, finding a way to involve your mate in open discussion to identify each of your needs and wants, and/or working with a relationship coach, may be less painful for you both.
Robert Pirsig’s Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance helped transform the Baby Boomers in their earlier years and helped show them how to live. Perhaps it’s time to dust off that old volume and add a chapter of your own. It’s not too early and it’s never too late to redefine the fundamental ways you choose to lead your life. Enlightenment and self-discovery are the legacy of this new generation.
Permission is granted to publish this article in full and with the following paragraph included:
© BoomerVilleUSA™. 2004. All rights reserved.
Co-authors are life and business coaches and co-founders of BoomerVilleUSA™, a virtual community of like-minded Baby Boomers who are redefining the meaning of retirement. For a free report on Boomers and the new retirement, contact them at boomervilleusa@hotmail.com and put “free report” in the subject line.
