I’m not
So the guardians of the struth serve up this article all about the mental health issues of boomer men, of which I’m one, just. Click, bait.
Reading, reading, scratch, scratch.
Precis…
Situation: When it comes to the personal identity of Boomer men, work often ends up becoming the cornerstone. “You are your job. If you aren’t checking in and running the show, who are you?”
Complication: This association of identity and worthiness with productivity and achievement means that retirement can leave many ageing men struggling to find purpose and value.
Proposed resolution: Instead of clinging to lost identities, we can seek purpose in connection, legacy and gratitude.
Alternatively, you could first ask yourself if just about anyone could have done the job. Answer is always yes.
(sidebar; in my case I got opportunities that others didn’t because a. I wanted them, and b. I had enough of a package to be seen as a potential next big thing. Luckily, I wasn’t so lucky. In fact I just avoided enough mistakes to get a pass mark. And that’s it.)
To quote Brian; “Look, you’ve got it all wrong! You don’t NEED to follow ME, You don’t NEED to follow ANYBODY! You’ve got to think for yourselves! You’re ALL individuals!”
I’m not.
Start there fellas; unpick that and it gets a lot easier. And then you can add connection and (I guess) gratitude.
Get that just right and you’ll die happy, without any legacy. In fact, you’re much better off with liberty in your lifetime rather than legacy afterwards.
offshore westerly 