Much as I would love to retire - right now - I'm not sure it's a good idea unless I have a clear objective to reach while being retired. So far I've thought about a routine to keep body, soul, mind and spirit all exercised during retirement, but that's pretty self-focused. There's an outward focus that's just as necessary, I think, but I haven't figured that part out.
Listening to the sermon on Sunday, something the Pastor said got me to thinking about my life objective and about my abilities and skills - do they cease in retirement? Were they only for the workplace?
For several years (decades, really) my life objective has been to leave relationships and organizations better than I found them. That still has merit, and I would want to continue that life objective even when retired. But ... how could I do that if I am not involved in relationships and organizations? What's there to "leave better" if I am holed up in my house concentrating on body, soul, mind & spirit ... as a disconnected individual? I'm introverted, and love time alone, but I can't have a positive impact on others if I don't get out of my house. :) I will need involvement with people and organizations, even though it's hard for me to initiate, and wears me down when it happens. A friend of mine from church has invited me to come to some regular business networking meetings he has, and I dread that stuff. But... it may be exactly what I need to do during retirement to stay connected with people and potentially have a positive impact on them.
My innate makeup is a combination of both an intuitive and an analytical nature, instinctively applying pattern recognition to observations, and turning that into creative, strategic thinking. These have been hallmarks of my work life for, again, decades. How do I use these things in retirement? Well, I'd have to think that some non-profit organization could use that skill set to advance their causes. I suppose that businesses could use that same skill set on a part-time, consulting basis. But both of those require getting out in the community and the business world to interact with organizations and find out what they need.
Finally, there's the area of spiritual gifts. For those unfamiliar with the concept, take a look at Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 3, 1 Peter 2. God gives to his people certain gifts to be used to encourage and build up his people. Their use is in the context of the Church, but they do have some spillover into non-church settings. Consistently over decades, mine have been gifts of: teaching, edification through music, and leadership ("shepherding", usually as an Elder in the church). Teaching, leadership and music have application outside the church, and God has allowed there to be some spillover of those gifts into the secular world for me. Of course, continued involvement in church has nothing to do with retirement, so I expect those to continue to be used in the church so long as health, mind, and voice hold up. Beyond that, though, teaching and leadership have potential for use in the secular world during retirement, too. Loaned executives, adjunct professors, Board members, all are possible outlets for those gifts.
So, while retirement seems deliciously tempting right now... there will need to be no lack of engagement with others during retirement, in order to continue to have a healthy outward focus. There's an old analogy I can use here, and that is the difference between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. The former is called Dead for a reason. No life can be sustained in it because of the high mineral content there. One of the reasons that the Dead Sea's mineral content is so high is that it has no outlet. No river flows through it. The Sea of Galilee, however, has both an inlet and an outlet. It has fresh water flowing through it all the time, and as such it supports life. No wonder several of Jesus's disciples had a booming fishing trade there. If I in retirement simply take in and don't give out as well... I will become like the Dead Sea. I'd rather have a fresh and vital life, even if that means getting out of my house and interacting with people. :)
Monday, September 18, 2017
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Sabbatical or New Direction?
The Pastor of our church just returned from a Sabbatical. He has now begun to write about the experience and the lessons learned from it. This made me think about my current period of unemployment (even though it's only been 2 weeks so far!) as potentially a type of sabbatical. My severance agreement grants me 7 months of salary continuation, one month for each year of service. I've worked for GuideOne for 7 years, and now have 7 months off. Seems like a sabbatical to me, except for the part that my job isn't there to come back to. (a key difference, I'll grant you)
Right now, I am feeling like I need to busy myself with searching for work rather than calming myself, letting the adrenaline high (from the work challenges I faced) slowly dissipate, and search instead for insight and wisdom.
One of the ideas we are discussing is whether or not I could move straight into retirement. Of course we can, but it may be a strain financially, and wasn't in our plan (which had me working for another 4 1/2 years). So I don't yet know if this is a sabbatical, a period of rest from which I will come back to the workforce reinvigorated, or if it's a transition into a new career: retirement. I love the sound of that last phrase. I have such plans for retirement!
Among those plans is a daily routine that addresses body, soul, mind, and spirit, at least a half-hour of each. Body: 30 minutes of exercise daily, varying among movement, strength, and endurance; Soul: 30 minutes of creativity daily, whether contemplating beauty, appreciating music, writing or making music; Mind: 30 minutes of reading daily, with a variety of literature: fiction, non-fiction, poetry; Spirit: 30 minutes of devotional reading, bible study and prayer. More possible in each of these categories, of course, but no less than this in each.
These last two weeks I decided to try the routine as if I were retired and see if it's sustainable. I've done fairly well with it so far - usually 3 of the four categories handled, with the one missing being different each day. I've found that the search for work intrudes and disrupts the routine and is mostly what causes me to miss one area. So, it's a half-hearted effort at best, but it seems that if I didn't have a work search intruding, it would be sustainable.
I've even written another children's book already. :) This will be my third, and it's focused on my boyhood experiences making maple syrup with my Dad and brother down in the woods behind my childhood home. At this point all I need is an illustrator.
And that writing exercise just scratches the surface. I've laid down 6 song tracks in the last two weeks as well. There's poetry in my head just waiting to be let out onto paper. I have a longing to help lead a small group, to do more teaching. All I need is the time.
Will it be now? Or in another 5 years?
No way to tell right now, so I'm not quite sure how to treat this 7 months of salary continuation. Sabbatical? Or a new direction entirely?
Right now, I am feeling like I need to busy myself with searching for work rather than calming myself, letting the adrenaline high (from the work challenges I faced) slowly dissipate, and search instead for insight and wisdom.
One of the ideas we are discussing is whether or not I could move straight into retirement. Of course we can, but it may be a strain financially, and wasn't in our plan (which had me working for another 4 1/2 years). So I don't yet know if this is a sabbatical, a period of rest from which I will come back to the workforce reinvigorated, or if it's a transition into a new career: retirement. I love the sound of that last phrase. I have such plans for retirement!
Among those plans is a daily routine that addresses body, soul, mind, and spirit, at least a half-hour of each. Body: 30 minutes of exercise daily, varying among movement, strength, and endurance; Soul: 30 minutes of creativity daily, whether contemplating beauty, appreciating music, writing or making music; Mind: 30 minutes of reading daily, with a variety of literature: fiction, non-fiction, poetry; Spirit: 30 minutes of devotional reading, bible study and prayer. More possible in each of these categories, of course, but no less than this in each.
These last two weeks I decided to try the routine as if I were retired and see if it's sustainable. I've done fairly well with it so far - usually 3 of the four categories handled, with the one missing being different each day. I've found that the search for work intrudes and disrupts the routine and is mostly what causes me to miss one area. So, it's a half-hearted effort at best, but it seems that if I didn't have a work search intruding, it would be sustainable.
I've even written another children's book already. :) This will be my third, and it's focused on my boyhood experiences making maple syrup with my Dad and brother down in the woods behind my childhood home. At this point all I need is an illustrator.
And that writing exercise just scratches the surface. I've laid down 6 song tracks in the last two weeks as well. There's poetry in my head just waiting to be let out onto paper. I have a longing to help lead a small group, to do more teaching. All I need is the time.
Will it be now? Or in another 5 years?
No way to tell right now, so I'm not quite sure how to treat this 7 months of salary continuation. Sabbatical? Or a new direction entirely?
Sunday, September 3, 2017
The Other Shoe Dropped
In my previous post I talked about the anticipation of waiting for a new management team to make all their final decisions around organizational structure (watching company officers be let go was rather like seeing tin cans being shot off a split rail fence one by one).
Well, this week it was my turn. I happened to be working remotely Thursday when I got a call from HR telling me my position was being eliminated in a reorganization. Friday was to be my last day, so they said to be there at 7AM to turn in my badge and pick up my severance paperwork.
It wasn't a surprise, really, I felt the odds were pretty good that I would get painted with the same brush as many others who went before me, and indeed I was. The old saying is true: "the new broom sweeps clean". Very.
Still, in each week that went by that say me still on the payroll, I was grateful to still be employed. And just about a year ago, I was also nearly on the cutting room floor so to speak, and managed to get a reprieve by taking on a tough new assignment, which was not really given enough time to complete, but it still gave me about another year of employment, so I'm glad of it.
But now, it's time to dust off the old resume', ring up some recruiters, and see what's out there. Since I turn 62 this fall, I theoretically could retire, but that's not financially prudent, as I need to work about 4 1/2 more years at my current pay scale to be finish off my house mortgage. THEN I can retire! And finding something at 62 at my current pay... [gulp] is not going to be easy.
So as they say, "life is what happens while you're making other plans", and "the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray". And so they have. The question now is, can we get them back on track, or will we have to make some major adjustments to those plans?
Well, this week it was my turn. I happened to be working remotely Thursday when I got a call from HR telling me my position was being eliminated in a reorganization. Friday was to be my last day, so they said to be there at 7AM to turn in my badge and pick up my severance paperwork.
It wasn't a surprise, really, I felt the odds were pretty good that I would get painted with the same brush as many others who went before me, and indeed I was. The old saying is true: "the new broom sweeps clean". Very.
Still, in each week that went by that say me still on the payroll, I was grateful to still be employed. And just about a year ago, I was also nearly on the cutting room floor so to speak, and managed to get a reprieve by taking on a tough new assignment, which was not really given enough time to complete, but it still gave me about another year of employment, so I'm glad of it.
But now, it's time to dust off the old resume', ring up some recruiters, and see what's out there. Since I turn 62 this fall, I theoretically could retire, but that's not financially prudent, as I need to work about 4 1/2 more years at my current pay scale to be finish off my house mortgage. THEN I can retire! And finding something at 62 at my current pay... [gulp] is not going to be easy.
So as they say, "life is what happens while you're making other plans", and "the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray". And so they have. The question now is, can we get them back on track, or will we have to make some major adjustments to those plans?
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