Carry On

Dr. Leila Denmark

I read about a doctor who just passed away at 114years of age. Like that isn't enough, she had retired from practice at 103. I love it!

It seems I am at that age when I am starting to hear more and more people talk about their retirement. A majority seem to simply be at the point where they don't want to work any more. Burnt out. Unlike quite a few of my contemporaries, I don't look forward to retirement. I may be looking forward to a change in the magnitude of demands but not to quitting altogether. There's more to life after 60-- or 70, or 80-- then coffee in the morning on the patio with the news.

People are social animals. Unless someone has really messed with your wiring you're supposed to want to interact with people at least part of the day. It's normal to want to be useful. It's normal to want to feel productive. Those of us who are in a position to continue our work throughout most of a lifetime are among the lucky ones. Of course, luckier still are those for whom the when, the where, and to what degree they'll continue to work is a matter of choice. I'm not there yet but it's not a bad target.

If you just can't wait to retire so that you will have more time to dedicate to the next big thing, good for you. If you can't wait to retire because of the million things you want to get at, great! But if you can't wait to retire because your job is just that bad, my sympathy to you and look out.  If you find yourself in the latter category I would suggest you start thinking about what's coming. As much as it may sound like a luxury, doing nothing is not fun. Retirement should not be thought of as quitting. Rather, consider you're just moving on to the next thing. Don't ever be done.

If you're interested, here's a link to one patient's blog about her beloved Dr. Denmark.