In my first column, I wrote about aging with intent. That phrase has become the mission behind this whole platform. But aging with intent isn’t just about getting older gracefully. It’s about giving yourself the license to realign, reinvent, and make changes that move you closer to the life you actually want.
For me, that process began with my family. After I retired from my job two years ago and we made the huge decision to move to Virginia, I needed to feel that my children were stable and happy, moving in the right direction.
My two sons, who have disabilities, needed to feel purposeful. They had jobs before we moved, and I wanted to make sure they would be able to work here. That took a while. One of them is employed, and the other is in the vocational system, receiving assessments and training. Hopefully, he will be employed soon. My youngest son had two years of high school left. Now, we are preparing to move him into college in the next couple of weeks.
That might sound like a goal for them rather than for me, but I knew that if their lives felt steady, mine would too. That foundation gave me the grounding I needed to think about my future.
I tend to function that way. Years of training taught me how to tackle big challenges: make a plan, outline the steps, and execute. It’s not always a quick process. It takes resilience and patience.
And once all of that was in place, I started to feel something else: restlessness.
Restlessness shows up when part of your life feels unresolved. The routines that once felt normal begin to feel heavy or irritating, as though time is slipping away. When I had stretches of free time, I would feel like there was something I should be doing. I’m one of those people whose leg shakes when I’m done with something. My leg was shaking something fierce.