Yesterday’s CBS Sunday Morning had a commentary that struck a chord with me. The woman who spoke talked about retirement. She referred to a comment that her father made about horse racing.
“Always watch what happens in the third turn,” he told her. “Because those in the race often find a lot more purpose when they can see the finish line.”
Before I decided to retire in 2021, I talked to a lot of people who had retired, trying to get a sense of what it really meant. I came to the conclusion that retirement was whatever you made it out to be. Since then, I have seen colleagues use it to travel, others to sit and read books, still others to spend time with their grandchildren. My wife retired before I did, and she is perfectly happy to sleep in, volunteer a couple times a week, work in the garden, and take care of her cats. I, on the other hand, spent two years at home staring at the walls before I decided I needed to do something more. My old job–teaching–called for me to come back part time, and I did. The tricky part has been keeping it part time. They seem to love me so much they want me to spend more time there than I–and my wife–want to spend as a retiree.
But the important lesson in all of this is purpose. When we are young, we are driven to prove ourselves. We think what’s important is to make money, get married and have kids, or to become famous. When you get older, your kids are on their own–if you’re lucky–and money is important, but probably not as important as it used to be. All you need is enough to live on until you aren’t living anymore.
So what IS important? That’s up to you. That’s where purpose comes in. If it is tied up in career, retiring means you have lost your purpose. And many people who lose their purpose lose their will to live. Same goes for family, for your spouse, etc.
My purpose lies in (1) being creative; (2) being a child of God; and (3) using (1) to share (2). Creativity doesn’t come as easily as it used to, but it is still in demand. One of the nice things about teaching in a Christian university is that I can use that creativity in the classroom as I see fit to teach others to be creative as well.
But that’s not all. I will continue to write as long as I can. I stopped for a while when I retired, thinking that my writing days were over. But I realized that it was part of me, and even if no one else read my writing, I needed it to give me a sense of purpose.
It’s what I do. It’s who I am.
