Retirement, well so far my experience has been limited. If
it was a new job I had started, I would just be past the 6 months, where they
decide if you are worth keeping or not. That evaluation that points out what
you are doing just fine and what you (they think) need to work on. So far, The
Fetching Mrs. B has been the most frequent sounding board as to how this phase
of life should go.
But let’s look back at how this chapter of life came to be.
Ever since I have been an adult worker, the “R” word has been out there. Like
the carrot on the proverbial stick in front of the proverbial donkey. The
nearly reachable, but not quite close enough for a taste.
Or maybe a better
example would be a picture.
US HWY 60 in New Mexico (by Dan Bohannon near Pie Town)
There is the constant passing of days on the road of life,
retirement just over the horizon, however far that maybe. Each day passes, then
a month then a year, looking back it seems to have been real, but all you left
was a shadow of yourself, because every day the real you, the living you, the
you racing to the horizon, lived in the present, not the past. Not even the
future usually.
From the time I was about 50, so many conversations with
fellow workers, friends or family centered around, if not retirement, then work
and how much meaning we found and how much longer we would have to endure. Working
for a large company, the magic age to get to was 54. If you could make it that
long, a layoff or downsize would not be the end of the world. The company would
give you a package and you would be eligible for your retirement money that
they had put away for you.
At 52, my job was eliminated, but through the graciousness
of my region VP another position was created, one that I bluntly told him would
hopefully last 2 years and get me to 54. That job lasted 5 years. At the end of
my 25th year I was downsized, and listed as an official retiree. I
was 57 and 3 months of age. So here it
was the end of a career, the end of the book. Or was it?
The thing is while writing the chapters that become the book
of our life they all lead, if carefully planned, to the retirement chapter.
Some of these, like a good mystery novel, may actually contain clues to what
the retirement chapter will be like. Or, there may be clues that aren’t
actually leading anywhere.
The culture, our friends, ads, social media often remind us
“getting old isn’t for the (insert your own descriptor here)”. We also are told
that retirement can never be achieved if we aren’t really, really prepared,
both financially and mentally. I can agree with some thoughts on this, but
retirement for others will probably look different than it does for me.
Preparation does include monetary planning, but also the realization that life
will change, just as it always has.
Just as in every chapter in the story leading up to the
Retirement chapter has had change, if you are not ready for another change,
perhaps the chapter you are currently writing needs a few more paragraphs,
perhaps, even many pages.
What retirement
offers, is opportunity for you, to write the story from that point on. If you
were like me the next chapter seemed to be written, or at least had an outline.
Whether you were working for “the Man”
or were a self-made business person, you have spent many more hours of your
life at work, than anywhere else. All that work to get to the next level of
whatever ladder/game/plan. Hoping that what you did every day would allow you
the opportunity to NOT do that every day for the rest of your life.
For us, retirement is allowing us to write the next chapter.
Now the outline of the rest of the book is in our hands, not the time clock
hands or the hands that sign paychecks (I know hands don’t do that anymore). We
choose the theme of the chapter and work within the limits of income and
enjoyment to make the rest of the book the best. Just like the ending of an exciting
mystery or adventure tale, we’re not sure what is at the end of the road we are
on, what is over the top of the next mountain or just how sunny tomorrow will
be.
But with all the uncertainty, there is still the reassurance of faith, hope
and love. Faith in what we know to be true, hope that everything will be okay,(it may or may not be, defined by...?) and love that we have cultivated over the time of our
life together.
So ONWARD we go, retired, but not tired of life, living or looking ahead. The past has surely prepared us for the future by showing us we need to be flexible.
So, like a rubber hose on a hot summer day, be flexible my friends.
Peace
Dan
