This week, after 32 years and some odd months, my friend Dorothy is retiring from work.
Quite frankly, I'm jealous of her. She's still young enough to want to do things (besides sit and vegetate, like so many retirees do), and she still has goals that she wants to meet.
Reminds me of a quote I saw the other day: "It's never to late to be who you might have been."
How profound, and how true! As long as there's life left in the old body, and the spirit is willing, it is possible to do and be almost anything you want to be.
And how sad that most people who are retired consider themselves 'expired', also.
So much potential, so much knowledge and experience is lost when we 'retire' people from their jobs. It's one thing when someone retires willingly, and moves on to something else; it's another, sadder thing when someone is forced out just to make room for someone younger and more energetic.
There's such a thing as 'elder' or 'senior' statesmen--those to whom the new generation turn to for advice. How unfortunate that we don't have a pool of knowlegde like that for our future generations of workers.
Perhaps if we did, the current loss of work ethic might not be as bad as it is.
Turn to those who are older, and perhaps wiser; they are a fund of experience that we cannot afford to squander and lose.
And so it goes...
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2 comments:
Congratulations to Dorothy! I wish I was doing the same--it's been thirty-four years and some odd months for me, and I am ready.
Even discounting the work experience of retired people, consider the LIFE experience. We "older" people remember an era that is long since gone. That expression "when I was your age" has little meaning to kids today because they are convinced that we've never experienced anything of note.
How untrue, and how sad for them that they do not realize it. Grandparents used to be the centerpieces of the family, full of tales of days past; now, they sit languishing in nursing homes, waiting for the twice-a-year visits from family.
It is a terrible waste of knowledge and perspective. They are our past, and we're forgetting them.
As one who is at the "point of no return", I admonish Dorothy and others who find themselves out of the workplace to bear in mind that there are places for even the younger "old codgers". When I retired in 1995 at 62, it was no doubt the best thing I could have done. I have had 2 books published, have time to do what I want to when I want to (as long as it doesn't cost too much money that is). But, we get by. Age is largely a state of mind. First of all, there "ain't" no stopping it; cover it up, kid ourselves with cosmetic alterations, but we still grow old underneath it all. If you can stay reasonably well, and retain your faculties and have enough money to pay the rent, put food on the table, and do a few extra things, there isn't much else you need. I would rather be a happy less affluent oldster than one with a lot of money and health problems I can't resolve.
Maintaining a contact with people is a key element once you retire; there are many involvements from a part-time job; volunteerism; hobbies; avocations. You name it, you can find something. Remember you still have family and friends. They are still there whether you're retired or not. So, kick back, take your shoes off, have an adult beverage and approach life with renewed zest.
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