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What on earth is retirement?

People who don’t know me think I’m retired. Retired – what a misleading and unhelpful word that is! To retire means to retreat or to give something up or stop doing something and if that’s the definition then I’m never going to retire.

I’m troubled when I meet someone who thinks that, because it sounds like they have decided they have reached the final phase of life and it’s time to put their feet up. It’s as though they feel that they have made their contribution and that there is nothing left but to rest until the end comes.

So how do I think about this phase in my life? For me reaching my later years means that how I use the rest of my life is supremely important. Yes I still do some ‘formal’ work and I love the work I do and find it satisfying and fulfilling. Now I want to use what I’ve learnt from 7 decades of living to enhance my life and other people’s lives. I want to cram in as much living as my mind and body allows.

Retire? Never!!   (RPW)

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