I ‘repotted’ my life in my 60s… YOU CAN TOO
For you, it might be the death of a loved one or the end of a relationship. For others, it could be retirement or unemployment. For me, it was a combination of all of these. Added to the fact that, like many women in deep middle age, I was facing an empty nest and the nagging feeling that the salt that once seasoned my life had somehow lost its savour. I needed to ‘repot’.
After a long career, it was still daunting to uproot from my familiar London life to take on a fellowship in the US. Embarking on any change is demanding, but moving countries, absorbing new cultures and assimilating new disciplines in my mid-60s forced me to navigate a whole new ball game of stress.
If, however, like a potbound plant, you’re feeling stuck and realise that your environment is no longer feeding your further growth, you owe it to your wellbeing to make a ‘repotting’ plan and move on! These tips may help:
✢ Establish what new skills you require for your new life.
✢ Consider your close family and dependents, and discuss the changes you wish to make.
✢ Assess your domestic, work, health and financial situation.
✢ Consult with as wide a range of people as possible.
✢ Make your emotions work for you. If the plan is genuinely yours, you’ll be more invested in implementing it.
✢ Paint vivid pictures of all the positives of the newly ‘repotted’ you and the negatives of the outworn version. Once the positives outweigh the negatives, you’ll be emotionally charged to take the plunge.
✢ Give yourself a deadline. Commit. And then… just do it!
✢ Frances Edmonds is the author of Repotting Your Life
(£9.99, Elliott & Thompson).