How do I grieve the end of my career?

Your career is ending, whether you chose it or it was chosen for you, and you are grieving more than a job. You are grieving a version of yourself, the one who got up and did that work and was known for it. That grief is real. Do not let anyone tell you it is just a job, because to you it was also a way of being someone. Let yourself mourn it properly. You do not rush past the end of something that shaped years of your life. Name what you are losing, the purpose, the routine, the people, the sense of being needed. Naming it is not weakness. It is how you honor what the work meant, instead of pretending it meant nothing. And then, slowly, let grief make room for what is next. The person you were at work, the strengths and habits and care, does not vanish. He is looking for a new shape. You do not have to know that shape yet. For now, let yourself feel the loss honestly. Grieving well is the first step to becoming whoever you are about to be.