Continuing To Observe The Transition Miracle

Much of this blog since 2013 has focused on the process of transition - what I have called the transformation of going what we in the U.S. look at as our 'real' life as a worker and going on to whatever comes after one stops working.

For many, maybe most, that is not the easiest or most pleasant change. Our culture glorifies the role of working so much that the vast majority (at least males) find the thought of giving that role up the gutting of their whole self-image.

Yet, as you have seen me write, I have found that giving up the rigid role of 'Worker' as our society defines it has allowed me to transition into a state of being that exceeds anything that I could have imagined during all the years I strived so hard to 'get ahead' to be 'acknowledged', to have 'success'.

Having allowed myself to move on but to not be restricted by any definitions such as 'retirement',  has resulted in my finding a state of fulfillment and peace-of-mind I could only have dreamed of when I was in my full bore, "I will be a success", career mindset. And in the most bizarre and unforeseen twists, the 'Ghana Adventure' of 2019 seems to have added yet another remarkable twist to the transition story.

It was only a week or so ago that I had this amazing realization. All the things I am doing in Ghana are being met with the most genuine and profound appreciation. I deal with highly capable, hard-working and ambitious young people. But there is a supreme lack of basic support in the Ghanaian culture. Everyone is sort of on their own. People don't just listen without judgment and try to help. So when you do...genuinely...people are incredibly appreciative. Way more so than people here in the States are.

So it is very, very rewarding. And as I throw myself more into this work I realized that after a lifetime of good fortune, of all kinds of people helping me, of just plain good luck, I am getting the chance to pay it all back! How freaking crazy is this! I can't even talk or write about this without crying (I am sure you see all the tear stains on my computer screen). But it is true. It is like I am having this unique opportunity to balance the wheel of karma. 

But none of this would have come to pass if Wife and I had not chosen to throw ourselves into what life was going to allow us to do 'post-work'. So my advice to all who see the horizon of their 'work-life' coming to an end is this. Don't resist it. Embrace it. Don't worry about how it will unfold. Let it unfold. But don't deny that you are going through a transformation. I doubt sincerely if the caterpillar has much of an idea that it will become a butterfly when it goes into the cocoon. You don't need to know exactly how your transition is going to occur. But you do need to let it happen.