So when it's time to leave, and for me, that was retirement, I had to learn about my own worth, both to myself and to my co-workers. Here are a few perspectives:
When you have a group of co-workers whom you appreciate, it can feel as if you have a second family. While you and your co-workers can feel good around one another and you can support one another, have a beer after work, have gatherings at someone's house, etc., all of that is significant and has worth. But you are not family.
I recall my last days before retirement. I was observing through my final months that, when others retired and left the work force, they had varying degrees of fealty toward their work environment. After they left, they wanted to hang around their old work chums, they wanted to share some workplace gossip, and they would want to know how THEIR projects, now taken over by an active worker, were progressing. What was difficult to understand for them, and to some extent, for me, is that from the day that you walk out the door, your RELEVANCY in your workplace, and with the co-workers with whom you shared so much, BEGINS TO DISSIPATE. The world of the workplace goes on: the meetings, the policy changes, the directives from managers, co-worker birthday celebrations-- all of it slowly becomes less a part of your world as you gravitate toward your new challenges within a new context. Just as you watched others pack their things and say goodbye to their workplace, others will dispassionately watch YOU pack your things and say goodbye. Yes, they'll miss you, but others will take your place, others will fill in the gaps that you left behind. And the workforce will again approach wholeness after you leave the empty spot where you used to be.
When you leave work, and in your case, permanently, you are forced to make a choice. You no longer can personally identify with your work. You can no longer gain self-worth through your job. It's natural to feel empty, jittery, and even depressed. But remember. It's all a natural part of change, because it motivates you to plunge forward into your next chapter. And if you can, even for a moment or two, open your mind and your heart to new possibilities.
I often think of a few lines of lyrics written by David Byrne and Brian Eno that seems to fit:
... all of your tomorrows will be yesterdays;
everything that happens will happen today.
Best of luck and good health.
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