Play the Whole Game

When i was a young man, companies would try to tell me about my retirement benefits when recruiting me. I somewhat arrogantly shunned their attempts because retirement was so far away it was totally irrelevant to me. When I was at my peak earnings, articles in WSJ, seminars and conversations ultimately focused on the question, "how much do you need to retire?" People would talk about how they couldn't wait to retire so they could travel more. It seemed that retiring early was almost a "badge of courage" for Baby Boomers.

I have come to realize that the notion of retirement is destructive to the human soul. It denotes a time in which we "pull out of the mainstream", we no longer see ourselves or are seen by others as contributors. This does not discount people who have retired from their career only to have a productive life as a volunteer. However, volunteering is more of a "giving back" than a sense of "contributing to." Don't misunderstand me, volunteering is a good thing and giving is an admirable aspect of our character. The point is it does not nourish our soul to "resign" to a life of volunteering when we feel that we have much more to give. People of age have experience and wisdom beyond what they provided at the peak of the contributions from their careers. People of age still have aspirations to impact others, not just provide helpful, but simple tasks. Especially when the have a high need for achievement. However, the social orientation of retirement seems to constrain what older people may expect of themselves and what others may expect from them.  

This may lead to some frustration and even sadness in the hearts of the aging Boomers. The anecdote - PLAY THE WHOLE GAME!! Perceiving the end of the game as the end of life rather than the end of one's career can restore lost energy and passion that may have been lost at retirement.

One more thing, retirement may be a psychological state versus a time in life when one no longer works for a living. We used to joke that my dad "retired" in his job 10 years before his retirement. Anyone is susceptible to dropping out of the game at any point, willing to accept the score as it is at that time. The fact is our story continues to be told as long as we are on this side of eternity. Playing the whole game honors our story. After all, our story is HIS story.