“Retirement
is a state of mind”
Most
working people would like to put off retirement as long as they could. This is
because they do not even like the idea of thinking about being separated
forever from the work world they lived in most of their productive life. They
have gotten used to the idea of going to bed thinking about what they would be
accomplishing at work the following day and getting up in the morning and
rushing to work to do what they thought they would be accomplishing on that
day. This has become a daily routine in life for most people working for others
and for themselves. Those who worked in one institution most of their lifetime
also have a tendency to be thinking that they are an inseparable part of that
institution. Their life and work are so well aligned, integrated and
intersected that they dread the idea of retirement as much as they dread the
idea of death.
There
are others who have to go for work to make a living. They have to make money to
pay for their daily expenses, car liens and house mortgages and most other
financial bill payments including credit card bills, sometimes too many of
them, they have to do at the end of the month. Some of them have children to
feed and clothe and they worry about their own life and their children’s life
and dread the day they would lose their job. For them it is similar to slavery
but having a different level of freedom they are supposed to enjoy while performing their work in accordance with the job description they are given. Such people are
very fearful and guard job permanency with their life. Therefore they are
willing to do anything at work that their supervisors tell them to do. In most colleges and universities most faculty members live and die for the type of job permanence which is commonly known as tenure.
Hope
has a way of keeping people longing to live and work forever. For most people
the recognition they get in their workplace and the promotions and higher
positions they reach in their place of work is larger than their life. In
almost all the different work places I worked in my work life of 40 some years
in 10 different educational institutions I saw how this human tendency and passion
is dramatized in people’s real life. At one work place there was a candidate
who literally hit his head against the wall because he did not get the head of
department position he wanted to get. There was another person who went on a hunger
strike because someone else was selected for the head of the department position
he competed and lost. In most other cases where an outsider was selected over
the interim acting person working in a temporary capacity in the position, it
was almost customary practice for the person who previously worked in such
temporary capacity to leave the institution quietly and unceremoniously. But
the good news is that those who persevere in spite of such hurdles at work, they eventually walk away as winners if they are not prepared to accept defeat easily. Most winners under such circumstances are those who play their card wisely and confidently.They are the type of people who get what they want by hook or by
crook. For such personalities, who fail miserably at work, sometimes failing their work places as well, retirement is not simply an option, but job-hopping is. Peter Principle works for them – sometimes, inefficiency has a way of
rising to the top. It is not always possible for hiring institutions to get the services of private detectives every time they have vacancy for an attractive high ranking position with a high salary and status.
Having been well
aware of the above risks of over enthusiasm and fear to lose your job,
especially in your old age, I announced my retirement two years ago to my
employer, co-workers and friends. This is to give them sufficient time to find
someone who could replace me in my position. I wanted to give them no surprises
about my desire to quit work. However, no one was happy about my decision to
retire, including my employer. This made me wonder if these people wanted me to
work for ever.
I consider my
case was unusual. Most of the time,
employers like it when someone who holds a senior position in an institution
wants to retire. This is because they could hire two young people for the
salary they paid for one senior person. The normal tendency therefore is for
the administrators of an institution to give subtle hints and, in some cases
harass a person until s/he eventually retires. Such continued harassment causes
illness including heart-related illness, cancer and other complications which
eventually results in the employee concerned to retire “voluntarily.”
Most often some people want to make retirement a big secret, like family secrets or other secrets they do not want to talk about especially when it comes to retirement from work. Others only whisper about such things. But what is there to whisper about retirement? Do they whisper about it when someone dies also? It looks like people want to brag about weddings, child births etc. over the airways, news papers social networks and all other places that one could think of. It is almost like they are shouting out “look at what I have got, look at what I have done, look at what I have seen on You Tube, look at my picture, look at what I had for dinner? How cool? Look at me.” No whispering there. I understand the earnestness and enthusiasm of people to boast about themselves. But why don’t they do the same thing about retirement as well? What is wrong with bragging about retirement? Isn't retirement the coolest and most honorable thing on earth that an old man or woman could do after working for so long?
Seriously, why do people not want to think or talk about their retirement? They obviously think that when their friends and co-workers come to know about a person’s retirement, they would begin to avoid the retiring person like a leper or an invalid coin or a useless and unproductive person just waiting to die. They would therefore avoid a retired person. Even the good doctors would not take a retired person as their patient; apparently they push the retirees to senior nurses rather. This is because retirees are no longer milk cows; most of them are on Medicare. But why should a retiree be so worried about needing the best doctor who would want to avoid retired people? Is that a good reason to be working in a stressful job that makes her/him sick?
Most often some people want to make retirement a big secret, like family secrets or other secrets they do not want to talk about especially when it comes to retirement from work. Others only whisper about such things. But what is there to whisper about retirement? Do they whisper about it when someone dies also? It looks like people want to brag about weddings, child births etc. over the airways, news papers social networks and all other places that one could think of. It is almost like they are shouting out “look at what I have got, look at what I have done, look at what I have seen on You Tube, look at my picture, look at what I had for dinner? How cool? Look at me.” No whispering there. I understand the earnestness and enthusiasm of people to boast about themselves. But why don’t they do the same thing about retirement as well? What is wrong with bragging about retirement? Isn't retirement the coolest and most honorable thing on earth that an old man or woman could do after working for so long?
Seriously, why do people not want to think or talk about their retirement? They obviously think that when their friends and co-workers come to know about a person’s retirement, they would begin to avoid the retiring person like a leper or an invalid coin or a useless and unproductive person just waiting to die. They would therefore avoid a retired person. Even the good doctors would not take a retired person as their patient; apparently they push the retirees to senior nurses rather. This is because retirees are no longer milk cows; most of them are on Medicare. But why should a retiree be so worried about needing the best doctor who would want to avoid retired people? Is that a good reason to be working in a stressful job that makes her/him sick?
But isn't this one good way to find out who your friends really are and who you could trust? If people care for you just because you are so and so working for such and such big fortune five hundred company or you are a CEO of a big company, do you really want them to be your friends? Don’t you want to be with a few people who truly care about you and not care about your next big project or promotion at work at least during your retirement years? I would keep away from those people who want my relationship or friendship just because I am the CEO or an employee of a big company.
Some co-workers started calling me the “short timer” shortly after I announced my retirement. It was most unpleasant experience that I had during the last year at my work place. I wondered if these people who call me a “short timer” were my true friends at work who I could associate even after my retirement. I also thought that the people who called me a “short timer” were very unrealistic about what life has in store for the working class. It looked as if they did not want to see me relieved of work and be happy in my last few years of life. Maybe they did not want to retire from work and they did not want others to retire either.
The third category of people asked me what I would be doing after I retire. This question gave me the impressions that they wanted me do work even after I retire. I thought otherwise, I decided to retire because I did not want to work for others any longer, or better, I did not imply want to do "work" for work's sake. I also thought that people should take time off to relax at least in their old age after working for so long. There are many other things that people could or should do besides work at least during the time when they are free to do such things. Retirement from work provides the necessary freedom as well as the opportunity for a person to do such things.
Incidentally, I
dream of a strange dream almost every week. The dream is about all the lectures
I have to prepare and deliver, committee meetings I have to attend, the reports
to complete before deadlines, and all the stressful things on earth that I have
to do the following day. Fortunately, when I wake up, I realize that it is just
a dream and I do not have to do any of those things I was worried about in my
dream and I have a full day in front of me do whatever I want to do or not do
anything at all. This realization makes me extremely happy; I feel I need a few
more days like this when I wake up every day, especially when I do not have to
struggle driving my car to work in snow during below zero temperatures in North
Dakota as I used to do for some 15 years during the prime time of my life.
Yes, there is a
time to work and time to leave work as much as there is a time to be a student,
a married man, a working person, and a retired person. Mixing up these stages
of life causes complications to most people. It is most unfortunate that most
people do not devote the time to study and learn how to manage their life so
that they could live comfortably during each stage of their life. Admittedly,
we cannot plan our life so perfectly that everything happens according to our plans
and expectations. However, it is a fact that most educated people live a better
life and make better decisions and choices about their life than the uneducated
people. This proves that knowledge is powerful. Planning has advantages over
non-planning. It goes without saying that having a plan could help achieve your
goals better than not having a plan at all. Retirement works the same way. One
has to have a plan for retirement. If one does not study it, communicate about
it and plan for it, one will wake up in retirement without having planned for
it, and this an uncomfortable place to spend your retirement. Whispering about
retirement is therefore not practical or helpful when it comes to retirement, but making an informed decision is. In short, those who whisper about retirement is a good indication that they are not ready to retire, and therefore they should not retire and keep working or others until the day they drop dead at work.
5/30/2013
5/30/2013
