“For me, the spiritual means more than the financial”

When my firm told me at 57 that I’d be leaving to pursue new challenges I was surprised and I found it hard to think what these challenges might be. It was certainly challenging to find another job!

Then it dawned on me that my days as a conventional member of the workforce might be behind me, and I suddenly felt this wonderful sense of freedom. Since then I have really thrown myself into the volunteering community, and I’m retraining as a career counsellor – unpaid, at present! – so that I can help others to follow my path to spiritual happiness.

I wouldn’t see myself as retired as such. Though a lot of men do take early retirement at 60 or even earlier – nothing wrong with that – I don’t feel like one of them. I’d say that I’ve embarked on a second career, it’s just one that doesn’t involve making money.

I find that giving something back is much better for what you might call my soul than just taking wages from an employer, and my new way of life is so rewarding that I no longer feel the need for expensive luxuries such as foreign holidays, meals in restaurants and central heating.

It’s funny that my wife is taking the opposite path and looking for full-time work, even talking about going on holiday by herself, when she has the money! But each to their own… maybe, deep down, we’re just spiritually different.