Why wait for retirement
I never gave much thought to retirement… I love what I do and on most weeks, I reflect back on my days with a sense joy, gratitude and fulfillment.
Sure, like many others you can hear me complaining about how busy life is and how I need more time to accomplish everything I need or want-to. I fantasize about vacation and the idea of not having to do anything unless I really want or feel like it. When vacation time does eventually come (and goes), it always feels brief. A small taste of liberty, repose, and relaxation before coming back to the “real” life…
Yet I never gave serious thoughts to what I really want to do when I do not have to do anything.
Recently however, I came across so many friends, colleagues and acquaintances who are retiring. Celebrating my 54th birthday recently, I realized that the idea of retirement is not far off to the future.
So I got curious… I asked many of them, “What are you looking forward-to in retirement?”, “What are you going to do?”, “What excites you?”
I got many answers and the conversations were always fun and lively.
Retirement seem to be a major milestone for all. Some report a great deal of anxiety and fear about how the future might look like. Others reflect with nostalgia and reminiscence about work. They feel they have lost their identity, the core of whom they are now that they have no formal role. A few others yet, have mapped out the next few years to the minute. Retirement to them is as structured and dense as my last week’s calendar.
Two conversations though stood out for me…
When I asked one colleague about what she looks forward-to the most, without hesitation or pause she replied, “I can’t wait to read a book.” I was astonished…. “Really?” I said. “And what held you back from reading all this time?” I asked. “I never had time” she replied decisively.
In another instance, I asked the same of a friend. He too was decisive and determined in his response. “I am looking forward to do whatever the heck I want” he exclaimed. “And what is that, I asked?” After all, he seemed so confident and conclusive that my curiosity intensified. But to my surprise he seemed a bit puzzled… He looked up and to the side as if looking for an answer, scratched his head and finally replied, “Well…, I don’t know yet.”
Whether it is with anticipation or hesitation, everyone I had spoken to appears to be looking forward to this next chapter. Yet, I could not help thinking about what this all means.
If you love reading books so much, can it really be that life is so busy to hold you back? And if you are counting the days and hours until you have the freedom to do anything you want, why is it that once there you don’t know what that want actually is?
We spend our days in a frantic race of doing, never pausing to consider what we hold important. We dream of the day when time is abundant and freedom is “granted” to do anything, but we often fail to recognize or even consider that we could do it all along.
I used to be a fan of anything related to time-management. I made a point of exploring and learning new ways to organize and schedule. To “create” more time so I can fit more into my day. But over the years I learned that within short weeks or even days, my calendar will re-fill and once again I am ”starved” for time.
You see, you cannot really manage time. Time flows, in one direction, consistently and perpetually. But if clear on what you want, aware and know what is important to you, then you do not need to manage time, you just need to manage your priorities.
So why wait for retirement?
What do you want to do? What are you giving up right now? What is possible if you did not have to?
What can you let-go-off to make space for what you love?
What happens if that thing you want to do can be possible right now?