The Retirement of Retirement

You have the right to work Arjun, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction.
(Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita)

A colleague told me other day a story of a fairly successful CEO who retired at the age of 65 and afterwards fell into a big hole of darkness. I can understand why; it is hard to accept if you go from being at the top of the world to apparent "nothingness". Sure, most rich people have the means to hide this transition fairly well. Fancy vacations, club memberships, perhaps even displaying their "trophy wives" in social gatherings but eventually all that is meaningless. Only one thing gives you true happiness, meaning, connectedness and love!

If there is a promise of the Creator it is that meaningful work is yours to choose if only you are willing to go the distance. The rewards the Creator can't promise to you since these are your desires. But as we all know, whenever we put our heart and your soul into something, a few crumbs will come our way. So let's focus our attention to the creative outlets, the connectedness with others and the love for what you do instead and chances are, we will be just fine.

Everyone should always have an eye on the next creative outlet. It is a nice feeling to be at the top of your game and perhaps at the peak of your earning power. Think about passing that golden goose on to someone while you already work on your next endeavor. Sure, there may be a time when you finally settle down with a person you love and really do retire for good. You will know when this point is reached, but until then have fun creating, connecting and caring for what you do!

You Gonna Miss This

Two colleagues of mine are retiring this year. They both have been successful members of the financial community for around 30 years, and they even left on a strong note in their career. Had you asked them a few decades ago how they would feel with an accomplishment like that, they would probably have told you that they will be really, really happy and that they would now look forward to their retirement in affluence. Yet, their body language says others. They look tired, worn out and don't seem to look forward to their coming years at all.

Ask a parent when they are sandwiched between the generations,  raising children, taking care of their aging parents while working all at the same time, and they would probably tell you that they kind of look forward to the their children's college graduation. Yet when it actually comes it dawns on them that their golden years have in fact passed. Life is crazy that way.

There is only one secret of happiness, live the moment now, no matter how tiresome and sometimes even scary it seems to be. "You gonna miss this", Trace Adkins concludes in his song and he captures the entire theme of this note in one phrase. Your goals, your desires, your aspirations will never make you happy, the holy Now does.

She was starin' out the window of their SUV
Complainin', sayin', “I can't wait to turn eighteen”
She said, “I'll make my own money and I'll make my own rules
Momma, put the car in park out there in front of the school”
And she kissed her head, and said, “I was just like you”

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Before she knows it she's a brand new bride
In her one bedroom apartment and her daddy stops by
He tells her it's a nice place, she says, “It'll do for now”
Starts talkin' about babies and buyin' a house
Daddy shakes his head and says, “Baby, just slow down”

Cuz' you're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Five years later there's a plumber
Workin' on the water heater
Dog's barkin', phone's ringin'
One kid's cryin' and one kid's screamin'
And she keeps apologizin'

He says, “They don't bother me
I've got two babies of my own
One's thirty-six, one's twenty-three”
Huh, it's hard to believe

But you're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

You're gonna miss this
Yeah, you're gonna miss this

(Trace Adkins, You Gonna Miss This)

Feel the Rain on Your Skin

He was a medical doctor and spent his time examining well-off business people for insurance purposes. He was proud of his prior career and the fact that he had managed to send his two boys to MIT. He gave me many a tip of what I had to do to send our boys to Harvard - they are 8 and 6 mind you, but according to him you can't start too early! When we talked a little about his job and his ambitions he said that he was now "over the hill". So he considered himself in semi- retirement while still making a little money on the side in his current job.

For some reason I thought back to this conversation when I heard "Feel the rain on your skin" by Natasha Bedingfield on the radio. There is only one state of enlightenment and that is to be captured by the moment very much like Natasha is in her song. You have to be willing to stare into the abyss, have to be captured by the incredible beauty of the Now to be enlightened. You can do that all your life. Age is nothing but a reflection of your mind. So please stay hungry dear friend.

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your innovations
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inner visions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Natasha Bedingfield