Retirement revised

I read an article titled, “No time to retire,” in the Washington Post National Weekly last week that stated, “Millions of boomers are headed not for endless vacation but for a new stage of work, driven both by the desire to remain productive and the need to make ends meet over longer life spans.”

The article pointed out that conditions and circumstances have changed for retirees. With longer life spans, people typically have 30 years of retirement now, whereas in past decades, it may have been only 10-15 years. To sustain one morally and financially for 30 years requires a new mindset than previous generations had adopted.

The author points out that we should look forward to retirement as a time to do work we really love to do, if we aren’t already. It should be seen as a time to step-up in life, so to speak, rather than retire from productive activity and then struggle from lack of purpose, and finances.

What really caught my attention was this passage, “We need an ideal that swaps the old notion of the freedom from work for a new freedom to work—in new ways, on new terms, to new ends.”

My parents taught me to live a life of purpose and value and not to accept drudgery or routine as part of the plan. And accordingly, I found work I love. The concept of “retiring,” from work I enjoy has always been hard for me to fathom.

“Why would I stop an activity I thoroughly love,” I’ve reasoned when contemplating prospects for retirement 20 years from now. I will see what time and experience bring.

But I appreciated the article because it challenged the long held assumption by many that years of inactivity labeled “retirement” is something to look forward to. Unfortunately, it seems that many people also retire from thinking, from being productive and sharing their talent and skill with a world in need.



Spiritually considered, retirement is an obsolete concept. Life never retires. Life is eternal, on-going good. It never stops, slackens, or withdraws. It is to be embraced, not run from.

Retirement from a particular career may give an individual more time to actively pursue spiritual understanding and the depths of immortal Life, and that is a good thing. But the old outworn concept of retiring into years of self-centered pursuit of leisure and days of mindless activity are quickly passing away. And that is probably a benefit for the long term health and well being of humanity.

If we aren’t doing work we really love to do now, maybe it’s time for a change. It’s not retirement that gets us out of drudgery, but an uplifted attitude about life in the first place. Life is good. Life is God. Life, lived rightly, is a joy.

You don’t have to wait until your 65 to experience the blessings of Life, the blessings of God that flow freely and abundantly to one and all, everyday. You can find these blessings through increased spiritual understanding of God and your relationship to God. There is no need to wait any longer.