Today is Only the Beginning

Living in Wisconsin you can only imagine that there is a lot of talk about whether or not Brett Favre will retire this year. By the looks of the interview from New Year’s Eve, I wouldn’t be surprised if he does. Check out a fun Deal or No Deal version of that interview here.

To retire or not to retire. What a big decision! So many baby boomers are being faced with this question earlier than they had originally thought, due to corporate budget cutting. Companies do package up the deal pretty nicely these days. It’s too expensive to pay the guys/gals at the top.

The other day Jason and I had a great conversation with an older gentlemen about retirement. He shared that he is 80-years-old and is not interested in retirement. He has too much life left to live. He shared that he has too much to offer and his passion for sharing his gifts was very obvious within the first first minutes of our conversation. We then chatted about the people who live for retirement and what a long 40 years that must be. This really got me thinking.

Dare I say… if you love what you are doing, you wouldn’t look forward to retiring from it. I know that’s easy to say for someone who is 28-years-old, but I also know that my list of goals and dreams is very long. I find it hard to believe that I will have completed the list by the time I am 65. I’m not advocating that all 80-year-olds should have to put in 40 hour work weeks. I’m saying, what is the point of living and working towards retirement? I’m guessing some would say, “freedom to do what I finally want to do.” Well, why wait?!

This reminds me two blog posts Jason shared last year. The first post was about living life for today because tomorrow is not guaranteed. The second post he shared a few months ago about staying in the wrong job. They are both well worth the detour.

Everyone knows a story of someone who worked at the job he tolerated for 40 years, counting down the days until retirement, when he would finally be able to play golf regularly, spend time with his kids and grandkids and travel more with his wife, only to have a heart attack on the way home from his retirement party. Quite frankly, living and working for some far off day in the future seems pretty risky to me.

Now Brett is in a different situation. For his own health, it’s wise to stop while he’s ahead. I also don’t see him as the type who will spend the next 50 years on his couch eating chips and dip and watching Sports Center all day. He’s too goal oriented for that lifestyle.

I think it’s all about sharing your talents with others and following the passion you have in your heart throughout your entire life…not just from age 65 and beyond.

In thinking about all of this I thought about Bob Hope, who shared his gifts of entertainment with so many for the 100 years he spent on this earth. He’s a great example of what I’m talking about.

I also think about our 80-year-old friend I mentioned earlier, who shared with us his big plans of writing a book and spreading his message to those who really need to hear it.

So make that long list of things you want to do when you retire and start doing them…today!

And Brett…this is only the beginning.

[tags]Brett Favre, retirement, retiring, Bob Hope, baby boomers, passion, talents, job, dreams, goals[/tags]