I can see that I have incorporated, in my own life, the first two keys to retirement success: I have continuous opportunities “to do,” as well as opportunities to love. But the third key, something to look forward to, seems a bit daunting.
I remember, when I turned 30, wondering what was left for me to accomplish. I had reached many important goals: I had graduated from school, had my first job in my profession, gotten married, had two children – what was left to look forward to? But now, having acquired slightly more wisdom than I had at 30, I realize that all those grand milestones of my life were never a culmination, but, rather, a beginning. My life, in short, was not over – it was just starting.
So it is with retirement – although it is officially the culmination of years of employment, it is, as other posts on this blog have suggested, a beginning. And, as in any new adventure, retirement is filled with possibilities, filled with experiences to look forward to.
In addition, these accomplished goals of my 30’s although important, were not, after all, the real fabric of my life. My life was primarily made up of what happened next and what happened daily over a period of thousands of days. Did I, indeed, look forward to anything from the day I turned 30 until my retirement? Of course. I looked forward to watching my children grow and learn and become individuals. I looked forward to delivering lessons to my students and watching them achieve the goals I had set for them. I looked forward to advancing in my profession. I looked forward to learning myself – getting a second degree, figuring out how to take care of an automobile, learning how to maintain a home, learning new skills; I looked forward to meeting and learning about new friends. I strived to become better, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, although it was apparent always that perfection was just out of reach.
When I compare looking forward to milestones with the subjects of my hopes (for that is what “looking forward really is, hope) I realize that the former are, as I have stated, beginnings, and the former are slow and steady progressions, measured by growth. Like the measurements of my children’s height as they grew taller, these hopes were gradually fulfilled and were also fulfilling.
To find something to look forward to in retirement is, then, as easy as finding reasons to hope as we progressed through young adulthood to the end of our careers. We will not, in all probability, be passing many more milestones, if any, but unless we have reached perfection, we can hope for achieving progress. We can find new areas in which to excel (bridge, anyone?), new friends with whom to interact, we can overcome destructive habits (at last!), explore new places (far from home or close to home). In short, we can look forward to continued growth. We can become aware of and to enjoy the gift of today – finding opportunities to explore new places, but noticing the place where I am and loving its beauty. And finding something to look forward to each morning when I awake and expressing gratitude for that day each night.
Looking forward can occur in small units – and so retirement, as life in general, becomes the sum total of how we spend each day of it.
7/7/2018