Sometimes considered as a social victory, sometimes as a transition or a break in the trajectory of life, retirement is a sensitive period that can lead to both positive and negative upheavals.

This essential passage is never understood in the same way and depends in particular on the place of origin, the job held, the working conditions, the state of health, the way in which one is prepared, the capacities adaptation, requests from those around you, etc. While some see it positively, others see retirement as a zone of turbulence.

The former often look back and think they are relieved to be done with the job. They present their departure as a relief, a deliverance, the end of painful or stressful working conditions.

The latter perceive retirement as a delicate passage and wonder how to replace the interest of their past life, their work, their colleagues, their sense of usefulness, their reason for living. They have often had an interesting job in their eyes and are in good health: they fear idleness, decline.

There are also those who have been waiting for retirement for some time to carry out a well-thought-out project and those who postpone the moment to think about it as long as possible, at the risk of finding themselves suddenly confronted with the announcement of their departure. .

Feeling of loss. Retirement sometimes leaves an impression of emptiness, a feeling of loss of identity, loss of bearings, loss of interest. No more reasons to wake up in the morning, no more schedule to organize your time. Sociologist Sylvie Mercier writes on this subject: “ Some retirees sometimes experience a lack and emptiness similar to what people who have lost their jobs sometimes experience. This feeling can appear in the first months of retirement and fade after a longer or shorter time, depending on the person. For others, it is later that this impression of emptiness appears. It can also happen that a person never experiences this lack if they have replaced it with significant activities early enough … »

Weakened self-image.

Retirement is sometimes accompanied by a loss of self-confidence, of an abandonment of his personal aspirations, of a renunciation of his desires and his projects, of a filling of free time with everything and anything so as not to think of idleness.  

Used to defining themselves by their roles and functions at work, retirees no longer really know who they are. But this loss of identity linked to work makes it possible to perceive and define oneself in a completely different way, often much broader …

Early departure. Retirement, whether expected or feared, is the last great turning point in life, and some people do not hesitate to put the needle on the table: we speak of early departure. So what are the reasons for these increasing numbers of early departures?

For 50% of individuals who leave early, it is above all to enjoy life, evoking “freedom”, “independence”, “the end of constraints”, “fulfillment”, ” rest ”,“ family life ”. For 30% of them it is more related to professional problems, and in particular a “drop in income”, “loss of contact with colleagues”, “fear of feeling useless” and “loss of prestige. “. Finally, for 15% of them it is above all for health problems, even if several reasons may overlap.

It seems the early days of retirement don’t quite look like what everyone imagines before leaving. According to testimonies, only people who experienced the event can measure the importance of the disturbance it causes and few are those who have foreseen in advance what they were going to experience. Georges Arbuz’s article, entitled Retirement: perceptions and support relays a certain number of testimonies evoking this very particular disorder:

For 6 months, I was in pain, lost keys, credit card, broken things. I struggled to rebuild my career, I forgot payrolls. I did not know which organization to contact for a little retirement. And then, when it was all over, a wonder. I was retired. (Mrs S.)

Since I retired, I have been in a swing all the time, is it fatigue? I ache all over. I don’t quite know what I want, what would make me happy, my thoughts fly in all directions. The projects I think of no longer have anything to do with those I had given myself before my departure. What’s new and difficult is really taking time for yourself, and as soon as I do, I blame myself, isn’t that selfishness?

However, retirees are indeed happy people! About 52% of people like the idea of ​​being retired, 40% find it moderately pleasant and only 8% express an unpleasant feeling about it. This perception of a happy retirement ties in with the results of another survey: It is between 55 and 69 years that men and women say they are the happiest in life! Who Said There Are No Happy Retirees?

To facilitate the transition between retirement and retirement itself, it may be appropriate to take stock, an assessment of prior learning and professional experiences.

It is important to resist the temptation to launch into anything and everything in order to obscure, to avoid being in front of you. This passage is inevitable and it is better to live it at the beginning of the retreat to begin the creation of the second chapter of his life. And who says creation says openness, availability and time to oneself: take the time to taste new pleasures without running, without making up your mind before committing to the path you have chosen.

William Bridges, an American consultant in the field of personal development, advises ” the arrangement of time of solitude, the writing of a notebook in which to write down the experiences of the in-between, the writing of his life story, the identification of what we really want (and not what ‘it takes), its own initiatory journey ».