I watched my uncle retire at 55 from AT&T. Ten years before he died in his late 80's, I saw him sitting in a chair, staring at a wall for longer than felt comfortable to me.
Made me shiver.
Discussion
My pastors mom would run around and serve "the old folk" at her church. She was like 86, and they were barely 70. She stayed busy, they had "retired" and stopped being active.
Quitting a job one doesn't like is fine, as long as it doesn't mean they quit life! Keep staying active, growing and learning, and maybe even building. Actively doing things that bring meaning and joy. That's how to stay young even if one was born almost 100 years earlier.
(At least that's what I've gathered. I don't quite have enough years since birth for personal experience yet 🤣)
Damn… that’s some real shit right there.
I retired 2 years ago. I'll never work another fiat job again if I can help it.
I've spent a good portion (maybe 18 months) mourning my old career & exploring what excites me. It's not that I don't want to work, its that I don't want to be a fiat slave anymore.
You definitely need to find a new purpose & a reason to get up in the morning.
These days I'm up before 4am & don't set an alarm. My days are filled with productive work on my land.
What I'm realizing is that completed projects are far less satisfying when they're completed solo & for myself.
That's the thing. My uncle did a few things that were pretty cool like going on the Senior PGA tour but he didn't "build" anything like a business or a piece of land and it was just sad.
I feel like my job is the equivilent of staring at a wall for 8 hours a day. For me retirement means actually being able to do something I find to be of value.