Ageing is a beautiful journey. To say the least, retirement is pretty much overrated. In some countries with strong values and traditions, age isn’t much of an issue. For some, it could be due to health conditions, or untimely death. So, what is the definition of retirement?
“Retirement is the withdrawal from one’s position or occupation or from one’s active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their job due to health reasons.”
So, the suggestion of ‘withdrawal’ would illustrate various situations. You either reached your retirement age, retrenched, company downsizing, or lack of productivity, and so forth. Alternatively, you opted for early retirement or quit your 9 to 5 job to being a farmer, manage your own business or do delivery services, which gives you more freedom. But alas, everything has its own series of dilemmas and circumstances.
Despite all the above, people who withdraw from retirement are usually prepared with canvas plans for their remaining days of retirement. The only outstanding left would either be personal or properties, with the exceptional expenses to sustain and keep you entertained. If you have pets, they retire and die with you.
As you slide towards “maturing”, these questions are bound to appear from time to time. What are your plans during your retired days? Where do you go from here? Do you remain active? Indulge in a new hobby? Totally relaxing, enjoying your travels, or pursuing a long-life passion?
Life Should Be Simpler
Ever since we laid our hands on our hard-earned money, we start sharing it with our families and friends. We gradually buy the things we long for until it becomes obsolete or irrelevant. Then we buy more new things which we don’t have space to stuff it all. So, we need a bigger space, and other bigger reasoning to accommodate those excess. Why? Because we have the means to do so.
Many of us have shoes, clothes, jewelries, we don’t wear all the time except occasionally, and “treasures” we have no use for. They occupy the storeroom to its maximum capacity. Yet, we succumb to the desires of the world because we can’t help ourselves. Not knowing the difference between needs and wants so we spend like there’s no tomorrow. It’s not really about the money though, but rather the inability to suppress the passion for things we don’t really need. The bigger the passion, the bigger the desire.
Your Life, Your Lifestyle
Don’t get us started on other enthusiasts like cars, motorbikes, guitars, and the list goes on. We have the rich, the super-rich, and then there’s the rich and famous. These people, truly have the means to spend insanely crazy, and then there are those who want to spend lavishly but can’t. But I can tell you this, they’ll do whatever it takes to find the “means” and make it happen. We’ve heard and seen many. Some made it, some don’t.
To all the above mentioned, which is more dominant? Is it for passion or for love? Love is beautiful. Passion is powerful. Because the desire to pursue that passion cannot exist if you don’t have passion. Passion works like an ignition for the desire to pursue it. Love is not powerful enough to stop passion, but passion is powerful enough to destroy love. People do stupid things for passion, but they would never die for it. The same can’t be said for love. Whichever it is, the true power lies in your hands as both are motivations for progress.
It’s a bit different for minimalists. They only buy the things they need and use the things they buy, and the Japanese are best known for this lifestyle approach. Due to their high population, many things in Japan come in small forms and spaces fitted in any available areas. From homes to office spaces, to products and technology, their usage conditions are kept at a minimal.
Some Malaysians have adopted this lifestyle feeling content, but the bigger community still see it as never enough. Owning one property whether a house or a land won’t be sufficient. They are always on the search for new properties in which they express their rationalization as opportunities to buy for their offsprings future, which I can say is not wrong.
Life Choices
Usually, such choices are made to protect their children’s future. A contingency plan made without knowing the future possibilities. It could be a good investment, or it may not, as you might not be around to see the outcome. There’s a noteworthy quote by the author G. Michael Hopf, to sum up this insightful awareness for us to think about.
“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
In contrary, the west, especially the Americans, prefer big, monumental, and towering results to be seen as awe-inspiring and breathtaking. And now, the same can be said for China since the days of the Great Wall. From ideas to its existence, they now compete among each other whether to show their accomplishment or authority to the world. Either way, they made it happen for the world to see.
America is the entertainment capital of world from Disneyland to Las Vegas, from Broadway New York to Hollywood Los Angeles. Today, both the US of A and China are head-to-head producing grand displays of future entertainment in technology, architecture, and especially in military. To the rest of the world, we are mere spectators. But the means to materialize it comes at a very high cost. The reward would only be attained after much expensive advertising and promotions. Visiting crowds from around the globe would flock in to experience it all and bring that adventure back home.
No matter what lifestyle we choose, it is ours to participate, be involved, and revel in whatever wisdom it may present. At the end of the day, it was our choice. So, sit back, take it all in and enjoy the trip. One thing’s for sure, Grey Days Are Coming.