The Great Unstructured Emptiness

I've been semi-retired for a number of years, and I know there are ups and downs along with the freedom that comes with retirement.  I know people in their sixties and seventies who are afraid to retire.

Much of the media coverage of retirement focuses on financial matters...how are people going to retire  with the financial meltdown of the past few years that has decimated peoples' 401(k)s and other investments?

For some people, money is NOT the concern  They can afford to retire, but wonder: "What will I do on Monday morning?"  They are facing what my son has called "the great unstructured emptiness."

My thirtysomething son is far from retirement, but has worked in a nunber of settings as a theoretical mathmatician.  Some of this required solving complex problems in splendid isolation and unstructured time.  To get results, he needed to be energized, motivated and directed.  He has used "rechargers" to keep up his emotional stamina.  These could be as simple as reading the comics or throwing a Frisbee, but the most effective "rechargers" involve interactions with other people.  These could be "kilijoys" -- little bursts of joy, which keep one sane, happy, and on track.

The "great unstructured emptiness" can be compounded by the single state.  With widowhood, I find myself alone in the silence quite a bit.   Easy sharing of those everyday moments of communication about the mundane events of life -- gone, as is my life partner.  There's an empty space now, and I must work to fill it.

How do we carve out a meaningful, fulfilling, rewarding life from the "great unstructured emptiness"?

I know I am the creator of my own experience.  I know there is a power for good in the Universe and I can use it.  I know I can use the Law of Attraction to attract what I think about, and I can support those thoughts and intentions by taking appropriate action.  I can "treat and use my feet."

So I take three simple, yet demanding steps:  1.  Identify what it is I really, truly want.   2.  Identify what's holding me back.   3.  Move forward.

Now, identifying what I truly want and my personal blocks may take time and effort.  I enlist whatever help I need in the process.  Having training and experience as a career and life design coach, I may hire my own coach.  I use Spiritual Mind Treatment, or affirmative prayer, to treat for clarity, focus, confidence, and determination to stay on track.  As I develop my own personal life map, I ask and answer these questions:

What are my cherished values?  My unmet needs?  What do I desire to attain?  Who do I desire to be?  Who and what are my love sources...my energy sources...my fun and pleasure sources?  Do I have tolerations to zap?  Strengths to tap?  Unused talents to express?  A past to complete?  A legacy to create?

What else do I need to know?  To do?  Who do I need to meet?  Do I want to attract a new loving relationship in my life?  And how?  Is it time to try out something as foreign as online dating?

As I visualize the big picture, I speak my word into the Law of Mind.  I set my intentions to support my truth.  I know the Universe supports my desires, and I move forward with excitement, with exuberance, with clarity focus, joy and ease...to challenge the "great unstructured emptiness."

And so it is.