RETIREMENT
Hello people,this blog is designed primarily for people in their late 40s,50s or 60s who have come to that fork in the road to choose between work and retirement.You know Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016 at 79 years of age was still a judge sitting on the US Supreme Court when he died.Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist in 2005 at 80 years of age was still a judge sitting on the US Supreme Court when he died.Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg (aka RBG) in 2020 at 87 years of age was still a judge sitting on the US Supreme Court when she died.Strom Thurmond long time member of the US Congress (48 years in the US Senate) retired from the US Senate in January 2003 at 100 years of age.Five months later he dropped dead.Although I wish he died 100 years earlier.Larry King who spent over 63 years of his life as a TV host,in 2021 at 87,died while still working as a television host.
All these people spent nearly their whole adult life on Earth working until they dropped dead.In life there is work and there is play.These people like many others do not know how to play.Several months before Larry King died he was asked why don't you retire.He replied "If I retire what would I do."
These people are workaholics.Just like an alcoholic can not
imagine life without having alcohol. These workaholics can not
imagine life without work.There are many things they can do if
they retire like white water rafting,fly fishing,buy an RV and
ride all around the country,sky diving,deep sea diving,write a
book,sail on a boat across the ocean,start a website or a
podcast,go to the beach,go hiking,travel,watch sex videos,sit
back and watch the grass grow and many more things to do.
These people (to Americans) have they ever been to the beach at Waikiki in Hawaii?Have they ever put their feet in the Arctic Ocean in Prudhoe Bay,Alaska?Have they ever gone across the Golden Gate Bridge?Have they ever walked down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon?Have they ever been to the Alamo in San Antonio?Have they ever visited Mount Rushmore?Have they ever eaten Louisiana cuisine on Bourbon Street in New Orleans?Have they ever been to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago?Have they ever gone to the Everglades in Florida? Have they ever on Derby Day been to the Kentucky Derby in Louisville? Have they ever been inside the US Capital in Washington,D.C.?Have they ever gone to the top of the Statue of Liberty in New York City?Have they ever visited Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts? Have they ever eaten lobster at a restaurant on the Atlantic Ocean in Belfast,Maine while watching the sun go down? All these people (internationally speaking) have they ever
been to the top of the CN Tower in Toronto?Have they ever gone
on a Caribbean Cruise to Barbados?I did but I didn't fancy
it-too many Republicans.Have they ever visited the old section
of Havana in Cuba?Have they ever visited Air Studios in
Montserrat (where Rolling Stones recorded much music)? Have they ever walked on Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro?Have they ever visited the slave houses in Isle Gore (Gore Island) in Dakar,Senegal?(Where slaves were stored before being shipped off to the Americas).Not the most cheerful of places to visit.Have they ever visited Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe? Have they ever seen the pyramids along the Nile?Have they ever been to the top of the Eiffel Tower? Have they ever kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland? Have they ever been inside the House of Commons in London?Have they ever eaten at a cafe on a beach on the French Riviera?Have they ever been to Brandenberg Gate in Berlin?Have they ever seen the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy?Have they ever visited any of the Greek Islands?Have they ever visited Red Square in Moscow?Have they ever visited the Taj Mahal on a Friday night underneath a full moon in Agra,India?Have they ever climbed the Great Wall in China?Have they ever walked over the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia?
All the things in the above places I have done and been to
yet I feel my life is not complete.I have never been to Antarctica to see the penguins.I must see the penguins in Antarctica before I drop dead.I have done all these things because I know how to play.I don't want to be like William Rehnquist and just work until I drop dead.As Mick Jagger said "Life Is A Party".These people like Rehnquist who work until they die must have a lot of money.When you die you can't take it with you.Further,when people work to such old ages they are doing a disservice to other human beings.There are many young people in their 20s fresh out of law school and up to their eyeballs in debt.They can't find a job because some people with much money want to still work.  There are people who know how to play and I immensely admire
them.William Shatner who at 90 years old went up into space on
October 13,2021.Harriette Thompson in 2015 at 92 became the
oldest woman to complete a marathon.Tony Bennett who in 2021 at
95 records a new album with 35 year old Lady Gaga that enters the top 10 on the US Billboard 200 Album chart.Joe Newman of Sarasota,Florida at 108 years old still drives his Mercedes convertible around town with his 101 year old girlfriend.Further,he still pumps his own gas and checks his own oil.These people I desire to be like if I reach their age.  Further,you have only one life so you should get what you
can out of it.The best thing about retirement is you do not
have to answer to anybody but yourself.You should always have
goals.You should have a reason for getting up every day.Like
Joni Mitchell said in 1969 "Life is for learning".Once you
think you have seen everything and have all answers.You have one foot in the grave.
"Growing old is mandatory,acting old is optional."
 There is a woman by the name, Bronnie Ware. She is an Australian
nurse who spent several years caring for patients during the last
12 weeks of their lives, and asked her patients about "any regrets
they had or anything they would do differently." Bronnie talked about the amount of clarity her patients
exuded in their lives that they reminisce over.The commonalities that
she picked up on were expressed through the book she wrote,
The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the
Dearly Departing. The major concept of the book reveals the 5 main regrets of
her patients.It's called,The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.
Here are the top 5-
1)I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself,not
the life others expected of me.
2)I wish I hadn't worked so much.
3)I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
4)I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5)I wish that I had let myself be happier.
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