1947
As a baby,
I get up on my own feet.
A new world with so many things to see.
I make the first step, now what?
The first step is scary, the next step, a breeze.
1951
Five years old, my parents send me off to school.
The first step down the street is the scariest.
Then I turn the corner and meet up with my friend, Eric.
The next step is so much easier.
1964
I am 17, at the end of high school,
What a wild ride it has been.
Veering off the road/bouncing off the embankment, but I made it.
1968
When I was 21, it was a scary year.
Vietnam beckoning/physical passed,
Next steps, I do not know.
I find a job teaching in Harlem, few!
1969
I am 21, dating the love of my life.
Time for a proposal,
Dare I ask?
Next step walking down the aisle of Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
1974
Now I’m 25, got my big-time degree in hand,
I think about the next steps.
What to do? Where to live?
Driving home to Ann Arbor for my first dream job: psychologist at Hawthorn Center.
1976
Next step: babies.
I guess you couldn’t call that a step,
More like a sprint.
Over the next 25 years, some next steps are giant leaps.
They flash by, each thrilling in its own way.
Before we can blink an eye, our little darlings are taking their next steps out of our house, down their own pathways.
2023
Some say I am now in the autumn of my years.
Hey, but I have some next steps still to do.
Retire? I can’t imagine ever doing it fully, I love it too much.
Partial retirement/slow down? Maybe. Unless something fascinating comes along.
Start a new career? At 70, I already started teaching at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. I’m not sure I have another new career in the tank.
Write more? Sounds appealing, especially if I can do it from coffee shops around the world.
Take care of our grandchildren? I like the sounds of this.
Nonprofit work? I do not enjoy participating on boards and I hate fundraising.
Maybe there’s something else in the wind I have not considered. Always a possibility.
I am so intrigued now by the idea of next steps, I will be offering additional groups where my clients can consider their own next steps. They will be asking themselves:
- What do I want to do next?
- What will work well for me and my family?
- Do I have the interest and energy to start something new?
- Is it retirement that I really crave?
- What would I do if I do retire?
- Is there something I haven’t thought of that I would like to do with my time?
- What have been the special moments in my life when I have had to make next step decisions?
- What can I learn from this?
- How does my situation compare to other people of my similar age?
- How do I get myself out of my current stuck situation?
- What if I think I do not have enough money to leave my current situation or retire?
To explore the situation I have created.
Next Step Group
If you think you may benefit from participating, please contact me, and let’s have a conversation to see if these groups might fit your needs at this time.
And no matter what keep on trucking.