In the words of psychologist Jeltje Gordon-Lennox, rituals act as life’s punctuation marks. They give meaning. So celebrate retirement with a meaningful ritual to mark the transition.
I had a retirement soiree at 5pm on my last Friday of work - asked all my friends to show up at 5pm because I knew that was the only way I was going to be able to wrench myself from my computer (also organized for IT to remotely wipe my computer at that time)! In the first week I also treated myself to a piece of jewelry that I would’ve never bought myself and when the people in the shop asked if it was for a special occasion I said “Yes! It’s my blingy retirement gift to myself.” My transition was also one of moving from being laid off > retirement. I was trying to celebrate that as my choice to help get through it.
I had a retirement soiree at 5pm on my last Friday of work - asked all my friends to show up at 5pm because I knew that was the only way I was going to be able to wrench myself from my computer (also organized for IT to remotely wipe my computer at that time)! In the first week I also treated myself to a piece of jewelry that I would’ve never bought myself and when the people in the shop asked if it was for a special occasion I said “Yes! It’s my blingy retirement gift to myself.” My transition was also one of moving from being laid off > retirement. I was trying to celebrate that as my choice to help get through it.