I’m retiring the end of the year. I’ll be almost 71 years young. But I keep asking myself what I’m going to do.
people seem to think that retirment is about pleasure....not me....I want a purpose....and I'll find it eventually.....for now, its my garden....
You will be more busy in retirement than you ever was before.
Houses...grandchildren...medical issues....driving problems...financial issues....memory issues....relatives....caregivers.
I’m retiring the end of the year. I’ll be almost 71 years young. But I keep asking myself what I’m going to do.
I think that, had I waited that long, I would have died at the office.
Don't get me wrong. I had one of those jobs that is so cool and so much fun that it is embarrassing to talk about it. But I had other dreams to fulfill.
I met Audrey Sutherland when I was in my thirties. She said something that has stuck with me.
"Do the physical things first" while you still can. Write the book later.
Take that advice. What is the point in waiting to fullfill your dreams until you are no longer healthy enough to chase them down and enjoy them? Lin and Larry Pardee wrote "Go simple. Go small. Go now." It was their mantra. Now it's ours. We have seen too many people wait too long.
Another thing I have seen far too much of is people who retire then just settle in waiting to die. It usually doesn't take too long. I served in the US Army for a number of years (One more hitch to retirement when I got out in 1980). I saw retired men in their forties dying from little more than lack of purpose in their lives.
Lesson learned: Have a dream. Have a purpose.
Having said that, maybe in some cases, it is better to work until you just can't do it anymore. I never dreamed of going to the office every day but it beats just sitting around with no purpose in life, waiting to die.