When Retirement Becomes Less Than You Dreamed

Most of my posts stress the positive nature of retirement. After all, this blog is Satisfying Retirement, not Unhappy Retirement. I am a firm believer in our ability to work toward making a bad situation better. Attitude and a willingness to change can often work wonders.

Even so, there are times when your retirement doesn't live up to your dreams or expectations. Despite your best efforts, fate has dealt you a difficult hand. Try as you might, things seem to have gone off track.

It may be a health problem that doctors can't seem to solve. Whatever you have tried doesn't seem to have worked well. Maybe your relationships have taken a turn for the worse. Sometimes being close to someone 24/7 reveals cracks in the foundation that weren't noticeable  before. 

Your dreams of travel have bumped up against the reality of your resources. A trip to the South Pacific has to be replaced by a three day trip south of your hometown. The idea of seeing the country through the windshield of an RV isn't going to happen.

The lime green refrigerator clashes with just about everything else in your kitchen. But wait, have you seen the cost of a new refrigerator? And, a kitchen remodel costs as much as your parents spent on your college education all those years ago.

This stage of life is not immune to problems, failures, disappointments, and missed goals. Humans fall short of expectations and desires on a very regular basis. Even so, sometimes we think we are the only ones who struggle with something.  I would like this post to be a chance for us to be reminded of the struggles others have had. We are not alone. 

Could you please share a time or circumstance where your retirement has been less than you dreamed it might be? It could be the whole experience has left you kind of frustrated. Your dreams remain on hold or put away for some other time.

Or, maybe just a series of small bumps in the road came at you unexpectedly. All the free time and all the ideas you have are just not coming together. You aren't sure why, but you are stuck in a place you didn't expect to find yourself.

Big or small, major or minor, it doesn't matter: whatever it is that has affected your retirement in a way you didn't expect. Would you mind sharing a bit of what has happened? Can you tell us when your retirement became less than you dreamed it might be?

Learning about someone else's struggles could be an important step for all of us to accept that we are not alone.