RETIREMENT

Is there such a thing as ‘retirement’?  Is ‘ceasing to work’ a good life thing?  Do I turn off my ‘lifetime of work’ brain?  How much bad golf can I endure?  Will my new 24 / 7 family life spring up communication unknowns?  Am I too old to contribute?  How long can I both physically and mentally do stuff?  What if I become a burden?  Can I nurse my wife if need be? Will the dog outlive me?

All valid questions as we prepare for a certain and miserable death with years of imagined physical and mental hardships all endured before the final second.  Oh woe is me!

But, and fortunately before death, there is life and even more life.  Life comes first!!  Every moment is precious.  Death is just the microsecond finale of life lived.

There are several great sayings, ‘live for the moment’, ‘planning stops remorse’ and ‘fill every hour with sixty minutes worth of distance run’. 

So, simple, create a staged contingency plan whilst enjoying every moment of actual breathing by doing stuff.  Don’t turn off the work brain as it won’t anyway, get golf lessons, be nice to the dog and stand up straight whilst taking a deep breath and go forth.    Good moments disappear unless we savour them. 

Retire or stop work? Not a chance.

Being able to contribute through ‘work’ is life affirming and stops us becoming age invisible.  Buy a car without tinted windows as it’s not a cocoon or a coffin.   Enjoy the world.

We will all just fall of the perch at sometime hopefully a long way away and in perfect health.