Sometimes I delude myself into believing that I’m past the challenges that impacted me in my youth.  Then I’ll notice that I’m being triggered by something unexpected and realize that I still have work to do on acknowledging my unresolved issues. 

These past few weeks have been an example of this. 

I have started telling people about the fact that I’ve decided to retire early, specifically at the end of this school year.  What’s interesting is that sharing this decision is making it feel more real, and the fact that it feels more real is bringing up several unexpected emotions. 

The most dominant emotion I’ve observed is guilt.