Retirement comes with a major shift in how you spend your time. After decades of work, family responsibilities, and other commitments, suddenly having more control over the calendar can take some getting used to.
It can also raise a question people may not have had much time to consider before: What do I want to do with this part of my life?
Researchers have spent years looking at a related idea, known as purpose in life, and what they’ve learned is more interesting than the usual advice to just “stay busy.”
Quick Answer
Research involving older adults suggests that purpose can be tied to personal goals, relationships, spirituality, and the feeling that you matter to other people.
The Resume Changes. The Person Doesn’t.
Spend some time at The Stayton and it doesn’t take long to discover how much experience lives under one roof.
Residents have built businesses and worked in medicine. Some have traveled extensively around the world, while others know a great deal about art and make good use of having the Kimbell and the Modern close by. You’ll find people with unmistakable personal style, longtime community supporters, and at least one woman who was still roller-skating well into retirement.
None of that disappears when someone retires.
A career may have provided a sense of purpose for decades, but work was rarely the only thing that made life interesting or meaningful. Retirement doesn’t erase the person you were before it. It can create more room for the interests, relationships and parts of yourself that once had to compete with a career.
Purpose Doesn’t Have to Be Impressive
The word “purpose” can make retirement sound like another assignment, as though everyone needs to identify an important new cause or accomplishment to make this stage of life meaningful.
Research paints a much broader picture.
A 2022 systematic review of 44 studies involving adults age 65 and older found that purpose in later life has been understood in ways that go beyond simply having goals to accomplish. Across the studies, purpose was also connected with relationships, a sense of mattering to others, spirituality, inner strength, and well-being.
In everyday life, that leaves plenty of room for interpretation. Serving on a board may give one person a strong sense of purpose. For someone else, it may be the grandchild who counts on seeing them every Thursday. Neither needs to look particularly impressive from the outside to matter.
Purpose Can Change Over Time
What gives someone purpose at 75 may be very different from what mattered most at 45. Retirement can change how much of life revolves around work, while interests that once had to fit around a career finally have room to grow.
That doesn’t necessarily mean reinventing yourself. Sometimes it means having more time to be the person you already were.
Being Needed Still Matters
One part of the research is particularly interesting: purpose can include the feeling that you matter to other people.
Being needed can be surprisingly ordinary. It might be a former colleague who still values your advice, a grandchild who calls for your opinion, a neighbor who saves you a seat, or just knowing that people notice when you’re not there.
The 2022 systematic review identified both social relationships and “mattering to others” among the ways researchers have conceptualized purpose in older adults. That helps explain why purpose isn’t necessarily something people have to go searching for after retirement. Often, it’s already there.
Interesting People Make Interesting Neighbors
Where you live can influence the people you meet and the relationships that become part of everyday life.
That’s particularly relevant at The Stayton because residents bring decades of experience, interests and stories with them. People who might never have crossed paths professionally can become neighbors, share a meal or discover an unexpected interest in common.
The Stayton’s location in Fort Worth’s Cultural District adds another dimension. Museums, performances, restaurants and other parts of the city remain close at hand, giving residents ways to continue enjoying interests they’ve had for years.
Purpose doesn’t have to come from finding something new to do. Sometimes it comes from having people around you who are interested in who you already are.
There Is No Single Right Way to Retire
A meaningful retirement doesn’t have to be exceptionally productive. Continuing to work can be fulfilling for someone who still enjoys it, while another person may be perfectly happy leaving decades of deadlines behind. Neither approach needs defending.
What provides purpose can shift as the years go by. Something that mattered enormously during a career may eventually make room for an interest discovered much later in life.
The research gives us good reason to take purpose seriously as we age. What it doesn’t give us is a formula for where to find it. Maybe that’s because there isn’t one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What gives people a sense of purpose after retirement?
There isn’t one answer. Research suggests that purpose in later life can be connected to personal goals, relationships, spirituality, and the feeling that you matter to other people. What provides that sense of purpose is different for everyone.
Does having a sense of purpose remain important as we age?
Research suggests that purpose remains relevant throughout later life. A 2022 systematic review of 44 studies found that purpose in older adults has been connected to several aspects of life, including relationships, well-being, spirituality, and feeling that one matters to others.
Does purpose have to involve volunteering or working after retirement?
No. Volunteering or continuing to work may provide purpose for some people, but neither is required. Research suggests that relationships and the feeling that you matter to others can be important sources as well.
How can community living support purpose after retirement?
Community living makes it easier to connect with others who share your interests. At The Stayton, residents bring their own experiences, interests and connections with them while building new relationships with neighbors and staying connected to Fort Worth.
What makes The Stayton unique?
The Stayton is Fort Worth’s only Life Care community and is located in the city’s Cultural District. Residents can enjoy independent living with access to additional levels of care on the same campus if needs change over time.
About The Stayton at Museum Way
Located in Fort Worth’s Cultural District, The Stayton at Museum Way by Buckner combines high-rise residential living with the security of Life Care. Residents enjoy panoramic city views, multiple dining venues, wellness and cultural programming, and convenient access to many of Fort Worth’s museums, restaurants, and arts destinations.
The Stayton is part of Buckner Retirement Services, a faith-based nonprofit that has served older adults since 1954. As a Life Care community, The Stayton offers independent living along with access to assisted living, memory care, rehabilitation, and long-term care on one campus.
Listen to resident testimonials, join an upcoming event, or contact us today to see what living at The Stayton could be like for you.