Retirement and identiy issues

 We do not shed our personalities, our life views, or our habits when we retire. These become the basis of building our new understanding of our new role and our new responsibilities. Having a sense of who you are, in the context of culture and community, may help you see how you can continue to contribute to your world.

The terms self-concept and self-identity define how we see ourselves. Scientists have found that the body's cells largely replace themselves every 7 to 10 years. In other words, old cells mostly die and are replaced by new ones during this time span. The cell renewal process happens more quickly in certain parts of the body, but head-to-toe rejuvenation can take up to a decade. This reality means that we become a new person every ten years or so, however, there may be some aspects of our identity that are relatively stable over time.

Mid-life and retirement are two periods in which one phase of life ends, and we have to dig deep to replace what we may have lost. At this point, some of us may experience a potential identity crisis. Ageing can bring physical limitations or outright elimination of some activities such as hard labour or playing contact sports.

Retirement can cause us to struggle with identity issues. Many can be surprised by the ways in which retirement adjustment can evoke past issues. Self-awareness is a critical influence on an individual’s ability to assimilate or accommodate feedback, especially feedback received from their social environment. Taking stock of one’s life upon becoming a retiree, however, is common.

Our reflections upon the past can take various forms. Some of us may be consumed by nostalgia while others can be troubled by regret for lost opportunities. Others of us might be aware of influences that we think shaped us, but have the wrong ideas of how certain episodes shaped us. Increased awareness of how one’s identity has developed might better equip present and future retirees to understand and cope with the challenges to identity that are triggered by retirement. Adjustments may come from an updating of the foundations of identity laid in prior years.