Among our party that went on our hike last week, there was a gentleman from Out East that turned a year older in his early 70's on the trail. Besides being in great health (he had been going to the Grand Canyon for 5 decades, but thought that given muscle atrophy and balance issues this might be his last "Back Country" hike - but I doubt it), he had a small coterie of interests that he followed.
In chatting with him and his adventures (he is in the process of finishing up the Appalachian Trail), he comment that when he was in his early 60's he retired rather abruptly due to a work related issue. "Best decision I ever made" was his comment, and 10 years on looking at him there was nothing that I could hear or see to disagree with it.
As some shared readers may also know, FOTB (Friend Of This Blog) Old AFSarge from Chant De Dupart has also spent the better part of a year learning to be retired. It has been an interesting journey as a third party reading his thoughts, especially about the falling out of and falling into rhythms.
Why this sudden reflection on retirement? Going completely away for a week will do that to you. There is something about standing in the grandeur of God's creation, surrounded by wind and silence, that makes one think "Next week I have to be back arguing about language in documents for things that likely will never be read again".
It can be a compelling thought, if you think about it long enough.
In one way, I have "reached" the spot in my career that is probably the spot I always belonged in: the seasoned old guy who has seen almost every aspect of the industry, is the holder of some level of industry institutional knowledge, has no interest or illusions about moving up the corporate ladder, and in some ways is a sort of "Senior Stateman". It is not quite the same as the group of guys drinking coffee every morning at the local café dispensing wisdom and weather complaints, but it is as likely as I am to get to it in the employed world.
And yet...and yet, every day I have to finish here on the computer writing, put aside the sad looks of A the Cat and J the Rabbit, and get ready to go do battle again at tasks not of my choosing. An 8 hour chunk out of my day is pretty inconvenient at best.
Am I ready to retire? Financially probably not, although I am going to press into our Financial Folks a little more directly when we meet with them in December - not just the "Yeah, it is a thing I would like to do" but "How soon could it happen? What could I do now to make it happen sooner?"
I do not know that turning mid 70's on the trail is a specific goal of mine, but being in the condition to do it and having the time to get there is something that strikes me as more and more desirable.
I think as we get older, we start looking at the future differently. Time no longer stretches out before us in a seemingly infinite manner and we have to gauge what we want to do here on earth with our changed perception of time. I find myself looking at new ideas differently. In the past I might have been willing to tackle them, now, not so much.
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