Our monthly Men’s Group was discussing retirement last Sunday night. There seemed to be a consensus that retirement was a period when you finally had the time to be who you wanted to be. I found this sad and wondered how one could live for 65 years always aspiring to ‘be oneself’ and never trying to actually do it because of politics, stress, inertia, what have you. It must have been very difficult, particularly when they were working and living in the country that has most rewarded entrepreneurship. What was it that made them hide their true selves? These are not stupid people, nor are they neophytes in the ways of the world. Many of them had responsible jobs and traveled extensively in more than one continent.
It was interesting to me that those agreeing with the consensus had spent their careers in large companies as I, who worked for smaller companies, always felt that I was being who I wanted to be. If I ever worked for a company that did not let me run my own show, I took what some may consider the coward’s way out and left. I have not amassed a fortune, nor have we lived lavishly. But, I’d much rather have lived my life during the past 65 years than have put it on hold for my retirement so I could spend my pension trying to find out who I am and doing what I should have been doing all along..
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