Begin with the End in Mind - End of Work

Good morning, Five Minute Families! As we work backwards through life in our Begin with the End in Mind series, we come to the end of working years. Many people refer to this time as retirement. Retirement is defined as “the action or fact of leaving one's job and ceasing to work” or “withdrawal from one’s active working life.” The reality is that if you retired or plan to retire at age 62, which is the US average, then you have another 16 years of doing nothing if you live until 78, again the national average. Now, a couple of years ago, most of us would have said that 16 years of doing nothing sounds pretty good, but we have seen on a global scale what happens when folks do nothing for prolonged periods of time. Mental health complications rise, and physical ailments rise as well - well, with the exception of pre-term labor, but that is a different topic for a different day. A few years ago at a conference many of the speakers and counselors recommended redirection instead of retirement. A great example is Jim’s mom. She retired after more than 40 years of hard work, and then out of a need for routine and getting moving, she joined the YMCA. From there, she was hired and then spent the last 16 years teaching swim classes for seniors. She didn’t think about redirection in a formal way, but she knew herself and she knew that she needed to keep moving for her own well-being. Job 12:12 reminds us that “[w]isdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.” Many of the younger generation could learn much from my mother-in-law, me included. Unfortunately, we don’t live close enough to my mom to include her in every day events, but I wish we did so that our sons had more of her influence their lives. Thankfully, we moved while our boys were still young and that move brought us significantly closer to Kim’s family. Each member of the older generation realizes just how true 1Corinthians 7:29 is - “the time is limited.” One gentleman in his 80s who came to CVR for a grief retreat after the death of his wife