If we are lucky and live long enough, we all pass through major transitions in our lives, such as leaving home, new careers, getting married, having children and perhaps grandchildren.
I have recently retired after 21 years of teaching and assessing dyslexic children so I decided to read the books on retirement that I bought for my husband when he retired two years ago.
While there is a good deal of sensible advice about money, taking up new interests and looking after your health/fitness/diet, I was struck by the totally selfish lifestyles that these books seem to advocate. It’s all about me, me, me – doing what I want, fulfilling myself etc.
In contrast, many of the retired people I know give generously of their time and talents to volunteering, charities, elderly relatives and caring for grandchildren.
The aims and way of life advocated in these retirement self-help books are in marked contrast to my own Christian lifestyle.
Yes, of course I intend to have fun travelling round the UK with my husband in our newly-acquired motorhome, but that is not the only focus for my retirement years.
This is perhaps best summed up in my School Prayer from 50 years ago (no, not a convent – a private school run by agnostics). It is a version of the famous Prayer of St Francis:
Lord, make me a channel of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me bring love
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith
Where there is darkness, let me bring light
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy
Where there is sin, let me bring the spirit of your forgivenessLord, grant that I may seek
To comfort, rather than to be comforted
To understand, rather that to be understood
To love, rather than to be lovedFor it is by giving that one receives
It is by self-forgetting that one finds
It is by dying that one inherits eternal life.
So, what is your retirement plan? Please leave a comment and share with us.
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Retired people are the location of knowledge, memory, experience and wisdom. Many choose to take that to the grave with them but others disseminate it widely. They have time to do so, time for family, grandchildren particularly need the things you can show them. The most important things in life are not learned in a classroom but from other people. Hazel will never stop being a teacher even though regulations say she is too old to be one.
I was fortunate to be able to continue work at a much reduced level. I was given an unpaid job in Sri Lanka which is wonderful. I learned to fly a glider, did an Open University course on the Origin of Man. Then there is the child minding, house sitting, caring for the childrens’ pets, garden and keeping the house together.
You can take days to explore parts of your local area in more detail than ever. Not just the places but the people associated with them.
I like St Francis prayer but it could be improved:-
“Where there is doubt, let me bring faith”
“Where there is doubt, let me bring truth” would be better.
And there is no evidence to support the last line so live your life now.
Hazel,
I would love to hear more about your newly-acquired motorhome – in another post.
When my son needed hospital transport 12 years ago, many volunteer drivers were retired people. I believe some groups such as Hospital Patient Drivers, local Good Neighbours, and many fundraising teams would not flourish without the contributions from the retired.
Some local pubs give the retired very attractive lunch deals. The local butcher at the Fryern Arcade also gives you great discount if you are an OAP. There are certain bonuses to be a retired person. 🙂
When you have retired you have plenty of time to write for Chandler’s Ford Today.