Over the last several years, I’ve had the privilege of working with roughly 170 Coloradans in their 50s, 60s, and 70s who were navigating some kind of life transition.
Some were approaching retirement. Others had recently retired and found themselves wondering what came next. Some were recovering from burnout, grieving the loss of a spouse, adjusting to an empty nest, stepping away from caregiving, or reconsidering careers they had spent decades building.
LEARN MORE: CU Denver Change Makers Program.
On the surface, their circumstances were very different. Yet they all had versions of the same question:
What next?
When people find themselves at one of these crossroads, they often assume they should already know the answer. They believe they need a clear plan before taking any meaningful action. They tell themselves that once they figure out exactly what they want, then they’ll move forward.
But one of the most consistent lessons I’ve learned is that it rarely works that way. Most people gain clarity through exploration rather than reflection alone.
They have conversations with people whose lives intrigue them. They volunteer. Take a class. Attend a community or political event. Pursue a curiosity that has been sitting in the background for years. They try things that may or may not lead anywhere.
And through those experiences, something begins to emerge. Not necessarily a grand purpose. Not a perfectly mapped-out future. Just the next step.
I think part of the challenge is that we have roadmaps for many earlier stages of life. We know what comes after high school. There are fairly well-worn paths through college, careers, marriage, and raising children.
But later life often comes with fewer scripts. Unlike earlier stages of life, there is no universally accepted roadmap for what comes next. That can feel unsettling. But it can also be liberating.
And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that uncertainty is often easier to navigate alongside others.
Modern culture offers plenty of advice about financial preparation for retirement and other life transitions. We talk less about the importance of having people with whom we can think out loud. The relief that comes from discovering you’re not the only one with these questions is palpable.
There’s something reassuring about realizing that uncertainty is not evidence that you’re doing life wrong. It may simply be a sign that there’s more ahead of you than you can see from here.
Anne Button is the founding director of the Change Makers program at the University of Colorado Denver, a semester-long course for later-life adults navigating their next chapter. Disclosure: She’s married to the editor of the Colorado Times Recorder.
