a rambling thought about life

Yesterday morning I was watching the neighbor across the street going to his car to go to work. He told me last year that he planned to work until he was 70 and then try to enjoy retirement the best he could.

I had asked him about his plans to build a sail boat and head out the the coast. He answered that he gave that up because he was working and figured by the time he was in his 70s it would be too hard.

Another friend passed away this last week. By our standards he was still young, younger than my neighbor. Knowing how difficult it was for him to make the decision to leave the workforce, he was able to enjoy life and being one that enjoyed the beaches of MD took time to go with his family. Probably not as much as he would have liked but more than if he was working.

I am not advocating quitting your job. Meeting too many people that quit their jobs to try to find the greener grass of Colorado. No, that is not what I am promoting. But what I am suggesting is that you take time to reflect on what is important or of value to you. Too many people are focused on a bigger house, newer car, better electronics, and...

I think of the quote "he who dies with the most toys wins" and you realize the irony of what is being said. All that will perish.

My dad would say, "one of these days" and those days never came.

Teaching seminars and one of the guys was telling me about a friend that who left NYC after 9/11, sold his house, downsized, and bought a small farm. The reason was that he worked in one of the towers that fell. For some reason he was on a project elsewhere but his friends did not make it out. One of those that did not always talked about how he wished he could spend more time with family, the commute was long and weekends took a lot of his time. The individual that was was telling this to the guy in the class stated that he himself realized he was working but for what end.

I have a friend here that after working years and going through a number of layoffs decided to raise alpacas. Asking him about it he said it was the best decision he and his wife could make. Life is better. Interesting.

A final rambling thought - A number of people were laid off from a non-profit I worked for. I was part of the termination. We were given a choice that we could stay on for a couple of weeks or leave immediately. There were those that decided that it would benefit the organization that they stay and work. (the same organization that said they were not needed - think about it) One of the reasons was, who would get the job done they were in the middle of if they left right away? I remembered a first sgt that asked me this when I thought I would have to cancel my own reenlistment ceremony because my boss thought I needed to guard a gate that particular morning. He said this and I repeated the question to the individual wringing their hands about needing to finish the job - if you were to die today, who would do the job?