Many years ago I had a friend who was past the typical retirement age for teaching, but still working. People often asked him why he was still teaching. His answer was, “As long as I am having fun and making a difference, there is nothing I would rather do.” I understood how he felt, as I too, loved my job at the time.
I graduated from college in the 70’s, and during my career worked in three hospitals, as a staff nurse on five floors, a manager for two units, an IT team leader for computers in the hospital, and spent the last nineteen years of my career in staff development. I loved every position. Nursing is a wonderful profession that includes long hours, holidays, weekends, overtime, and exhaustion. It also includes knowing you made a difference in someone’s life, almost every day. It is the most caring profession I know. I looked forward to the challenges each position provided, whether affecting patients or employees.
The nicest compliment I ever had was when my manager told me that some people have a job, many have a career, but she felt I had a calling. I gave it my best every day I walked in the door. I knew the day would come that I didn’t feel that way anymore and that it would be time to leave. My boss, the chief nursing officer, was surprised when I offered my resignation letter, giving five week’s notice to wrap everything up. When asked if I would stay on as needed, I declined. It was a time for change in my life. So many of us are afraid of change, but I like to look at the future as a challenge. I have wonderful memories of so many of my peers, and stay in contact with many of them. We laugh about times we enjoyed and times that were tough. I am proud to say that I am still a registered nurse.
Today is the anniversary of my retirement from St. John Medical Center. It has been six years since I said goodbye. I have no regrets and have not looked back. I took a year or so to decompress and look at what was next, but to me, retirement wasn’t saying life is over. It was more like, what’s next? I founded Stretching Forward after taking time to reflect on what mattered most to me. Since before leading the first Stretching Forward retreat in 2018, I have loved what I do. I hope you find inspiration and a little inner guidance from the blog, newsletters, website, retreats, and emails. As I stretch forward this year, my word for 2022 is Create. One of the things I am creating is a new retreat entitled, “Celebrating What’s Right With Your World” which will be offered this fall. Stay tuned as the year continues for more details. It is a work in progress.
We all have everything we need inside ourselves to make our world the best it can be, no matter what we are going through at the time. I hope you took time in December to list five things from 2021 that made a difference in your life. And also a list of five hopes for 2022. If not, take time now to make the lists. Reflect back on them in a few months. Look at where you are today and know that where you are going is worth celebrating. We are all stretching forward, day by day.
