I Am

How do you want to retire?

I actually stopped work 14 years ago, my career had never taken off, I’d just walked out of the most awful job with the most awful people I’d ever met. The most appalling boss I’d ever encountered. I’d had enough.

I was working with someone I thought was a friend, and we were gaining traction.

We moved up here, I don’t like driving so I had trains sorted out to get to Bristol, my mother died 8 days later, and the work disappeared with my ‘friend’. I was eventually asked by one ex client why I abandoned them and why I didn’t want to do the work anymore. That’s what they’d been told. Stunned doesn’t describe it.

The ex friend went in other direction that I was glad not to be part of, and I found myself alone, bereaved, with no real contacts. I sat and had a think.

I did meet some nice people, one of which tried very hard to help, but business networking doesn’t work for me. I’m not a business I’m carer as it were. When you ask me what I do the answer will be ‘what do you need?’ What I do is entirely personal to you.

Instead of “I work with people who need help with (a specific)” Mine is:

Let me speak that I may hear you.

That was written on an angel card that one of my group sent me that nailed exactly what I do for the first time.

I tune in, I say what I feel first, you tell me if it’s right, then we work through it to find your solutions. If you don’t know what to do and are totally lost, I have a technique for that too.

When I’m talking I’m not fascinated by the sound of my own voice, far from it, I’m interested in, and paying great attention to, the words coming out of my mouth. I’m also running another program in my mind seeking solutions. You’ve probably never had as much attention paid to you as I do.

Retired- retired

Now I only work with my groups and I love it and them. You could never meet a better group of people. They get what unconditional support and acceptance is. If one hurts we all hurt. Together we back them 100%.

I still write, as you’re thrilled to know 🤣, and I love my life with my cats.

I just don’t get to visit the beach, financially we can’t do holidays, and we’ve never found the right cat sitter up here. The last two were exceptional, and trained in veterinary care. We also live in the middle of the country. Big mistake for us, lovely otherwise.

Was this how I hoped to retire? No idea really. I hope this question is encouraging you to think hard and plan. I didn’t know to do that. It would have been a great idea.

However, I’m a pretty content person so I’m still wandering on watching the clouds, enthralled by the moon, smiling at kittens and puppies, looking forward to seeing my lovely grandchildren, and loving all the wild flowers now that the UK has decided to go back to nature and save the bees.

Life itself is so full of beauty!

Have a super Sunday everyone!

Deb xx