Quite a few of us wait to retire. We long for the days when we have nothing to do, go nowhere and stay put. I do believe too many of such days can be boring and quite disastrous.
My neighbor Mr Kishore retired the other day and since our terraces are joined at the centre he told me not to bring my dog up as he wanted to laze around. I watched him 'lazing around' on the terrace for the first day, again the second day and Mr Kishore found it too troublesome climbing up and decided to laze around at home and in bed:
Here's what a child thought of his retired grandparents:
‘We used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa.
They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to where everyone lives in nice little houses, so they don't have to mow the grass anymore!
They wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.
There is a swimming pool, and they all jump up and down in it with hats on.
So far so good, right? Now comes deeper observations: ‘At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches them all day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts!
Nobody there cooks, they just eat out.
And they eat the same thing every night --- early birds.
Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll's house. The ones who do get out, bring food back to the others, who eat it greedily.
My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too.
When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll's house. Then I will let all the people out, so they can go out and have a nice time outside!’
And all our lives we think that the 'inside' of retirement is great while it is the outside world that is sweeter still.
By advice again; never retire.
Retire from your job maybe, but not from life. Find something that will keep you occupied all the time, and yes never put your boots up. You don't want to be thought of as retarded, do you? Nor do you want to be like my neighbour Mr Kishore who spends all his time in bed and has now started telling everybody he is depressed.
And when you work, take small breaks, call them ‘retirement breaks’ to please yourself, but don’t ever listen to the 70 hour or 90 hour a week people. They are the ones who need to retire, to stop filling our minds with thoughtless and ridiculous views..!
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