LIFE TRANSITIONS …

1. LIFE TRANSITIONS … From: Juan Ramos Bayón

2. Throughout the life occur various transitions marked by changes of residence and changes in family and professional status. My first major change was in the teens age, to leave my small village and go to live with my parents to the city of Salamanca, a fact that was a trauma for me - to abandon my lifestyle, my friends and the village.Finally this wasn’t so difficult to discover a city full of art, walking through Salamanca was like entering a museum and this helped me overcome the new situation and grow up in my life. Later there have been several changes of residence for education purposes related to my career, but all these changes were accompanied by a firm family and social life, so these transitions were fluid and supposed an important professional growth for me. Perhaps the strongest changes in our lives are the transitions of an active working life to retirement and especially if this is an early retirement, unwanted and in a traumatic way. Juan Ramos

3. I have a first forced early retirement at age of 50 after suffering a heart attack which prevented my working activity. To the psychological burden of the illness we could add the sudden change of an active life to another - passive one, forced by medical prescription that was imposible for me to walk. It was really traumatic for me to wait for the doctors’ permission and be caple to move agin on my own. The long walks in my city let me know better the nature arround, know other walking people with whom I shared experiences and new relationships. This fact and the support of my family helped me to go beyond this life transition. I suffered another early retirement at the age of 52 from a hard work commitment of 12 hours to a completely passive situation, also coinciding with my personal situation of a widower from two years with three independent children and living alone in a recently acquired apartment. Thus, the December 27 started my pre-retirement situation by involvement in a special employement regulation plan (ERE) in a semi-enforced form by my status of non-contracted personnel. There were Christmas days, so it seemed at first a holiday with a family and festive atmosphere.

4. The months of February and March passed devoted to housekeeping, rearranging things, papers, books, music, etc. but I remember that one day at the beginning of March I woke up and asked myself: WHAT I’M GOING TO DO TODAY? It was like a heavy slab that leaves you immobile, barely able to think and I realized that either have to react or it will take me to a depression. "Going from a very active situation to a completely passive one is not easy ..." I looked for solutions of this situation, I didn’t know anything of leisure activities such as workshops and started to look for some courses, but most of them were funded occupational courses for unemployed people, women, immigrants and people in risk of social exclusion with very few options for men.

5. Among the conclusions we can emphasize on: • The changes are easier if we are active and engaged in any activity. • The family support is very important during the life transitions. • WE DO NOT HAVE TO RETIRE, WE JUST HAVE TO CHANGE OUR ACTIVITY ... I finally think that the retirement is as the marriage: with its Illusions, doubts and unknown future in a short term.