“You will be who you are becoming.”

~Gavin Johnson

One of the pastors at my church said that this past Sunday.  I thought it was really insightful.  You’re never going to wake up one morning and be something that you haven’t been becoming little by little, day by day, for years.  A caterpillar doesn’t go to bed as a fuzzy little worm and wake up the next morning a beautiful butterfly.  That transformation from egg to larva to pupa to butterfly takes about half its life.

Applying that idea to retirement, you’re not going to wake up the day after you retire and be something different than what you were becoming for the previous 5, 10 or 20 years.  Yes, you’ll have a little more time and a little more money, so if those are the only things holding you back from the life you really want to live then you’ll be in good shape.

If it’s something else, however—certain skills, attitudes, fears, plans, logistics, friendships, relationships, knowledge, personality traits—then you’d better start working on those things now.  You won’t just be able to flip them on like a light switch.  Instead you have to form them drop by drop over time like a stalactite.

Who are you becoming?

So, if you will be who you are becoming, that begs the question: “Who are you becoming?”  Maybe more importantly, “Do you like who you are becoming?”  If so, just maintain course.  If not—if the person you want to be in retirement is different than the person you see taking shape today—then it’s time for a change.  Take a small step today that moves you in the right direction.  Then do it again tomorrow and the next day and the next.  Before you know it, you’ll wake up one morning and you’ll be the person you’ve been becoming all along.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week.

Joe

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