It’s not uncommon for people to talk about looking forward to retirement. In fact, longing for retirement. Even counting the days until they retire. But once they retire, then what? It’s probably because I love everything I do, and how I especially love my daily work, that the idea of retirement seems to me, well, put it this way………it’s how we think about illness and death – they are things that happen to other people! But increasingly people have a lot of life to live after the age of 65. Why’s this come to my mind just now? Well, in the Queen’s honours last week, one of the people honoured was Phyllis Self who turned 100 last year. One of the remarkable things about Phyllis is that she runs a garden centre – at age 100 that’s quite something – but here’s the thing that really struck me – there was a mention of the fact that she has run this garden centre for 36 years. That means she didn’t actually start the garden centre until she was 64 years old!
How many people do you know started a new business at the age of “retirement”? We need to think about life differently. We need to live ALL of our lives. Retirement should be a time of active engagement with life.
Heroes Not Zombies 
I know a few people who are looking forward to retirement so they can do what they WANT to do, not what they HAVE to do. Not all of us are blessed with occupations that suit our callings, and those who have the ill-fortune to work at things that don’t feed their souls look forward to retirement so they have the time to volunteer and pursue those things that intrigue and challenge them.
Ouch!
Point taken, mrschili!
I was just trying to argue for living a flourishing life – at ALL stages of life – not one where life is in two halves – work or retirement – and only one half contains the possibility of flourishing.
And YOUR point is an important one, Doc; I didn’t mean to make you wince.
The people who look forward to retirement so they can live the life they’ve always imagined make me so sad. I can’t comprehend toiling away at work that doesn’t fulfill me – though I know that, as a percentage, almost no one is fortunate enough to do the work they love for their living.
I’m mindful that I’ve been blessed in my life, and I’m grateful every single day that the work that I do for pay now will likely be the same work I’ll do for free as a volunteer retiree…
Isn’t that amazing and inspirational. Never too late to live your dream. Wow. Thank you for sharing that Dr. Bob!
ah yes, mrschili, me too – I share that sense of a blessed life. Hey, don’t worry about the ouch, I can cope! You actually touch on a very, very big subject – the place of work in life. For me, and for you, work is a big part of who we are. For most people who work I think that’s just not the case. So if work is unsatisfying for someone, they need to find other ways to flourish.
Amber – isn’t it? That’s exactly the message I took from this story too.
I loved your entry. My grandfather wrote a poem called Live All your Life. I enter it here from memory.
Live all your life is a challenge to live. A challenge to get, and a challenge to give. A challenge to be and a challenge to do. A challenge to me, and a challenge to you.
Live all your life, don’t just live a part, for living requires soul conscience and heart. Live while you live, don’t just walk around, an unburied corps, encumbering the ground.
Live all your life in whatever estate. Live for a purpose, live to create. Live to impart and live to receive. Live to have faith, to trust and believe.
Live all your life is the clarion call. For old and for young, for great and for small. in sunshine or shadow, in darkness or light, here is the greatest of blessings, MAY YOU LIVE ALL YOUR LIFE!