Dreaming about the old factory/

[Cruzincat]

Originally Posted by jambo101

I really miss the social dynamics of working with 350 co-workers, however the dreams arent about any co workers its just me being somewhere in the factory either walking around or accomplishing some task, actually i guess its a feeling of feeling relevant as in retirement that feeling is not happening a whole lot.

Kind of makes me wonder if the people still working there get strange feelings like a spirit is wandering through the workplace!

[Cruzincat]

I hope that when I retire, if I start dreaming about work, it is about the times before the bean counters took over. I'm doing that already, day and night. Especially day, whenever I think about reasons for retiring asap.

[Escort Rider]

Originally Posted by jambo101

I really miss the social dynamics of working with 350 co-workers, however the dreams arent about any co workers its just me being somewhere in the factory either walking around or accomplishing some task, actually i guess its a feeling of feeling relevant as in retirement that feeling is not happening a whole lot.

Originally Posted by anifani821

That would make sense.

The one thing about growing older that concerns me is becoming irrelevant. I think that is something that a lot of us think about, even if only subconsciously.

Maybe your mind is trying to urge you to find some new pursuits that will give you that sense of accomplishment. :-)

Interesting about feeling relevant. A lot of us need that; I know I do. There are lots of ways to achieve that in retirement, from being part of grandchildren's lives to doing various sorts of volunteer work.

But lots of folks claim not to need it. They are content with smelling the flowers.

This point/counterpoint is at the heart of so many discussions in this Retirement Forum about lifestyle in retirement. We humans are very, very different from one another.

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by Escort Rider

Interesting about feeling relevant. A lot of us need that; I know I do. There are lots of ways to achieve that in retirement, from being part of grandchildren's lives to doing various sorts of volunteer work.

But lots of folks claim not to need it. They are content with smelling the flowers.

This point/counterpoint is at the heart of so many discussions in this Retirement Forum about lifestyle in retirement. We humans are very, very different from one another.

Agree about the point/cp. After working almost 40 straight years, starting when I was 20, I don't really need to feel relevant. I built a company, put lots of people to work, made good money, did a lot of trade & charity work, yada yada. I lived with stress for the last 20 years or so. Even when I sold my company, because they wanted me to stay and run it, the stress was still there. Only when I retired a few months ago did the stress melt away.

Relevant? YMMV. I love doing what I want. I still stay involved with people I care about, active in a charity, go by and visit work, but it's on my terms. And not because I care about being relevant, but because I care about the people.

First grandkid due next year, even more to get involved with.

People that need to feel relevant, or busy, or whatever, are welcome to their feelings. As you say, we are very different as a group. I love feeling free.

{posted from the south shore of Kauai...}

[Escort Rider]

Originally Posted by astrohip

Agree about the point/cp. After working almost 40 straight years, starting when I was 20, I don't really need to feel relevant. I built a company, put lots of people to work, made good money, did a lot of trade & charity work, yada yada. I lived with stress for the last 20 years or so. Even when I sold my company, because they wanted me to stay and run it, the stress was still there. Only when I retired a few months ago did the stress melt away.

Relevant? YMMV. I love doing what I want. I still stay involved with people I care about, active in a charity, go by and visit work, but it's on my terms. And not because I care about being relevant, but because I care about the people.

First grandkid due next year, even more to get involved with.

People that need to feel relevant, or busy, or whatever, are welcome to their feelings. As you say, we are very different as a group. I love feeling free.

{posted from the south shore of Kauai...}

In your case part of doing what you want is being active in a charity. I submit that activity makes you relevant, as I assume you make a difference with the contribution of your time. I also submit that one can feel free and be relevant at the same time - i.e., that the two are not mutually exclusive. One does not have to carry the stress of a full time job with heavy responsibilities - such as running a business in your case - in order to feel relevant. If you make a difference in someone's life, make an impact, then you are relevant. It doesn't have to be grandiose or earthshaking; we don't have to hold 300 lives in our hands like an airline pilot, or hold one person's life at a time in our hands like a trauma surgeon. If our presence somehow makes a difference to others, we are relevant. That is not quite the same as being busy, and for sure it is not the same as being stressed.

My volunteer work in the schools is not stressful, but I get to interact directly with young people in ways that are enjoyable for both me and them. I can sense that some of them are glad to see me, and I call that being relevant. Am I setting the bar too low in defining relevance that way? Even if so, it's plenty enough for me in retirement; it's enough for me to feel satisfied and fulfilled.

One of the things I do is provide a lunch time chess activity once a week in four different schools. A fifth grader told me recently, "I wish you could bring this EVERY day". So at the cost of zero stress and while retaining my feeling of being free (committing to a few hours a week is still free in my book, especially compared to a full time job with on-going responsibilities) I can still reap rich rewards.

I have to wonder to what extent we are engaging in semantics. In connection with your charity involvement, you say you care about the people, but not about being relevant. Well, O.K., I accept that, but I think those two things are so close that teasing them apart would be difficult. You step forward because you care about a particular group of people, and that is relevance in my book. Not the kind of relevance such as money brings, or recognition in a newspaper, but relevance just the same.

[augiedogie]

I've had dreams for years that I was back selling, and being fearful because I hadn't seen my customers in years. Weird. And that was 25 years ago.

[Gandalara]

Heck, I still have dreams about school.
And that's much more in the past than work.