I do hope that the working girl found out about ERE. Perhaps with so many talented writers on these forums we should be working on an ERE screenplay as well as an ERE video game?
Too Old To Retire "Young"
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saving-10-years
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
Thanks for the memory @EdithKeeler. I watched the original movie (with girl friends of course) at the time and I don't recall the eating-toast-over-sink scene. But that is definitely a scene from real life.
I do hope that the working girl found out about ERE. Perhaps with so many talented writers on these forums we should be working on an ERE screenplay as well as an ERE video game?
I do hope that the working girl found out about ERE. Perhaps with so many talented writers on these forums we should be working on an ERE screenplay as well as an ERE video game?
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EdithKeeler
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
Careerism?
Thinking about "careerism" today and reading back through Jacob’s excellent posts on the subject.
A new position has come open that I could apply for within my company. When I first heard about this opening coming up, I immediately thought “I should apply for that, it’s the next logical step for my career.” But then I was brought up short. I recognized a while ago that I have WAY too much of my self-worth tied up in my career, which I don’t always like much. Taking a step down from my management role for geographical reasons was hard; there are some days when it’s still hard. I sometimes have thoughts that “I’m better than this job... I’m capable of much more... man, did I get all those certifications for this?” I get frustrated to see people getting promoted to positions and they don’t have backgrounds as strong as mine, only because they are geographically in the right office or kissed the right fannies. (I suck at office politics. REALLY suck. In my old job it finally dawned on me that everyone else was playing politics—I was just trying to get the work done. How stupid of me).
There are other times, though, when I’m actually pretty content to be where I am, working the normal 8-5, not having to stay late except in very rare situations. My boss is OK and I know what to expect of him. I’m thankful the crazy-making, panic-attack inducing stress of my old job is gone. Other times, though, perversely, I miss it. That frantic activity felt... important. Sometimes I felt important. (The reality, of course, is that that NONE of it is very important—in my opinion—unless you’re curing cancer or feeding hungry people or going to Mars for the first time).
My company is making some changes and that’s maybe opening up some possibilities. We have some new management and I keep having these random “this time will be different” thoughts. A new job would be cool from the standpoint of being able to do new and different things (I admit to having a very low boredom threshold...). But it also means potential career advancement, too. Which is good. Well it’s supposed to be good. But I am not my job, right? RIGHT???
The truth is, I kind of am. And I hate that. I put getting married and having kids on the back burner—truthfully, it wasn’t even in my kitchen—and now I’m almost 50 with no significant other and no kids. I did exactly what Jacob notes: concentrated my “being the best you can be” efforts on my workplace or work activities, my work setting.
Not to say that I’m without hobbies or interests—I do have those—but my main focus has ALWAYS been work. I could probably explore some of the psychology of why I went into the same field as my dad, but I’ll spare you that for now! I also blame coming of age in the 80s—I already wrote once about “Working Girl” and one of these days I’ll discuss my opinion about how that movie, “Wall Street” and “Baby Boom” influenced my generation... I’ve never been one to leave work at work—I think about it when I’m home, I go balls out all the time when I’m at work and there’s stuff to do. I tend to be someone who concentrates everything in one area at a time: when I was in school, it was school. When I started work, it was work.
I am terribly competitive. Really, ugly-ly competitive, frankly. I MUST WIN. I won’t cheat, but I gotta win. My best friend and I worked 2 summers at McDonald’s in high school, and there was a weekly contest for the drive thru speed of service. I won almost every week. I had to win. (Unfortunately, she beat me at school and was valedictorian of our class—but I beat her in the drive-thru dammit). In later life, money’s not been the measurement of winning, but position has been. I thought I was getting over that, adjusting to my new role at work, working on other areas of my life, defocusing my life on work.
And I kinda am. Kinda. But still, this position calls to me and I’ll probably apply for it. If I get it, the bump in salary will help me fund my early retirement goals and hopefully meet them even earlier. If I don’t get it, well, I think my ego can live with it. I think. I hope.
Thinking about "careerism" today and reading back through Jacob’s excellent posts on the subject.
A new position has come open that I could apply for within my company. When I first heard about this opening coming up, I immediately thought “I should apply for that, it’s the next logical step for my career.” But then I was brought up short. I recognized a while ago that I have WAY too much of my self-worth tied up in my career, which I don’t always like much. Taking a step down from my management role for geographical reasons was hard; there are some days when it’s still hard. I sometimes have thoughts that “I’m better than this job... I’m capable of much more... man, did I get all those certifications for this?” I get frustrated to see people getting promoted to positions and they don’t have backgrounds as strong as mine, only because they are geographically in the right office or kissed the right fannies. (I suck at office politics. REALLY suck. In my old job it finally dawned on me that everyone else was playing politics—I was just trying to get the work done. How stupid of me).
There are other times, though, when I’m actually pretty content to be where I am, working the normal 8-5, not having to stay late except in very rare situations. My boss is OK and I know what to expect of him. I’m thankful the crazy-making, panic-attack inducing stress of my old job is gone. Other times, though, perversely, I miss it. That frantic activity felt... important. Sometimes I felt important. (The reality, of course, is that that NONE of it is very important—in my opinion—unless you’re curing cancer or feeding hungry people or going to Mars for the first time).
My company is making some changes and that’s maybe opening up some possibilities. We have some new management and I keep having these random “this time will be different” thoughts. A new job would be cool from the standpoint of being able to do new and different things (I admit to having a very low boredom threshold...). But it also means potential career advancement, too. Which is good. Well it’s supposed to be good. But I am not my job, right? RIGHT???
The truth is, I kind of am. And I hate that. I put getting married and having kids on the back burner—truthfully, it wasn’t even in my kitchen—and now I’m almost 50 with no significant other and no kids. I did exactly what Jacob notes: concentrated my “being the best you can be” efforts on my workplace or work activities, my work setting.
Not to say that I’m without hobbies or interests—I do have those—but my main focus has ALWAYS been work. I could probably explore some of the psychology of why I went into the same field as my dad, but I’ll spare you that for now! I also blame coming of age in the 80s—I already wrote once about “Working Girl” and one of these days I’ll discuss my opinion about how that movie, “Wall Street” and “Baby Boom” influenced my generation... I’ve never been one to leave work at work—I think about it when I’m home, I go balls out all the time when I’m at work and there’s stuff to do. I tend to be someone who concentrates everything in one area at a time: when I was in school, it was school. When I started work, it was work.
I am terribly competitive. Really, ugly-ly competitive, frankly. I MUST WIN. I won’t cheat, but I gotta win. My best friend and I worked 2 summers at McDonald’s in high school, and there was a weekly contest for the drive thru speed of service. I won almost every week. I had to win. (Unfortunately, she beat me at school and was valedictorian of our class—but I beat her in the drive-thru dammit). In later life, money’s not been the measurement of winning, but position has been. I thought I was getting over that, adjusting to my new role at work, working on other areas of my life, defocusing my life on work.
And I kinda am. Kinda. But still, this position calls to me and I’ll probably apply for it. If I get it, the bump in salary will help me fund my early retirement goals and hopefully meet them even earlier. If I don’t get it, well, I think my ego can live with it. I think. I hope.
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jacob
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
You can be your work and that's great. Why, it's a hobby that pays well and demands a lot of focus and attention and if that's your thing, you never have to worry about getting bored. I think it becomes a problem if you become your title or your advancement. It's even worse if you start confusing those with your self-worth because those things are fickle and out of your control. I think this is where careerism goes bad. There's nothing wrong with putting value in your work, but it's no good putting a lot of value in something that's just a timeline of a resume.
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IlliniDave
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
It's a tricky thing. My dad was a teacher. He's retired but he's still a teacher. His profession was and is a vocation. There's nothing wrong with that in principle.
To me that seems to be a tough need to carry into any sort of retirement. Perhaps instead of striving to prove yourself superior to those around you, you could rechannel it to prove yourself superior to the you of the day before? That's something that can be transported outside the office fairly readily and there are no questions of politics/social interaction muddying the water.I am terribly competitive. Really, ugly-ly competitive, frankly. I MUST WIN. I won’t cheat, but I gotta win. ... In later life, money’s not been the measurement of winning, but position has been. I thought I was getting over that, adjusting to my new role at work, working on other areas of my life, defocusing my life on work.
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IlliniDave
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
What stood out to me was her words "Really, ugly-ly competitive." and "I MUST WIN." along with the general impression she gave that excessive competitiveness may have undermined the quality of her life in some ways, and that it was something she was consciously trying to change. Maybe I misunderstood her. I spent a lot of time in competitive athletics as a kid and young man, and still dabble in things like Crossfit that have a certain amount of competitiveness. At work I'm focused on the mission, not where I stack up relative to my colleagues (ironically, that's been the key to what career advancement I've enjoyed), so my competitiveness is not ubiquitous. In most things balance is best is all I meant to say, not that having a bit of competitive spirit is bad. As I've aged I've focused my competitiveness more on self improvement than against others.bigato wrote:I don't think so. There are a lot of activities where this competitive spirit can be exercised. I may mention two of my current obsessions: programming (make me money and I can do it without a job), and martial arts training (can even make me some money by teaching, depending on where I live). I think most sports would also fill the need for competitiveness. Some people are like this and I don't think it is a bad thing at all.IlliniDave wrote:To me that seems to be a tough need to carry into any sort of retirement.I am terribly competitive. Really, ugly-ly competitive, frankly. I MUST WIN. I won’t cheat, but I gotta win. ... In later life, money’s not been the measurement of winning, but position has been.
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EdithKeeler
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
That's a good point, and I was probably being unduly hard on myself when I wrote that. I probably should say: "When presented with an opportunity to compete, I get extremely competitive." And I do think that in some ways this has undermined my life, especially when I was younger. If I didn't get the promotion, I was really hard on myself. If I didn't win the competition at work, I took it hard. I think I'm not quite so bad, but I'm still pretty competitive at work in that it's really hard for me to say "No, I'm content right here, I'm not going to compete for that job." Which may be where I am right now--I'm not sure if I want the job, or if its just theWhat stood out to me was her words "Really, ugly-ly competitive." and "I MUST WIN." along with the general impression she gave that excessive competitiveness may have undermined the quality of her life in some ways, and that it was something she was consciously trying to change. Maybe I misunderstood her.
"I must win" thing coming out.
However, I will say that I don't foresee a problem with competition once I retire. Oh, I imagine I'll occasionally have thoughts about "If I stayed in the game, I'd have that corner office" or whatever, even though I really don't want it. But there are certainly other ways I challenge myself outside of work, involving learning new things, yard work ("Must have the prettiest yard on the street!") , exploring new trails with my dogs, etc.
Good points, thought, and this discussion has made me think.
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IlliniDave
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
Hi Edith, I happy to see I read more into it than you intended. I very firmly agree that challenging oneself on an ongoing basis is a good (and arguably important) thing to do.
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EdithKeeler
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
This is what I worry about.
Some things are changing at work that make me think my 5 year timeline is going to be too long. We have new management, changing too many things, and while I am a pretty flexible person, I just don’t like many of the changes that are coming in the next year or so. I have a feeling that I may get even more fed up than I have been and quit within the twelve months.
I don’t worry about not having enough money to cut the cord; I realize that I could probably do it tomorrow if I didn’t have my debt (which declined significantly this month—yeah!) or wanted to work at something part time. And one good thing about being a bit older is that social security isn’t SO far off—12 years—and I feel confident that it will be around for me in some form, and I’ve gotten plenty of quarters in.
No, what worries me about quitting now (really, more of a worry now than 5 years from now), is that if I decide to go back to work, or unforeseen circumstances force me to, it’s going to be MUCH MUCH harder, perhaps impossible, at my age. I’m seeing it now already as I scan about looking for something to get me through the next 5 years. What I do is pretty specialized, and there are no companies in this town that do what I do. Do I have some skills that I could make use of in something else? Sure, but convincing someone else that I can may take some doing.
Which leaves self-employment. I’m not a programmer or engineer like so many here. I work in a particular area of the financial industry and most of my career has been spent in mid-level management. I’ve done a lot to build my skills in my industry, but nothing to build them in other things. I have no shortage of hobbies, but none that are easily monetized.
All of this leads me to wonder the following:
---Do I REALLY want to retire from actual work early, or am I just REALLY unhappy in my job? I think both, but it bears more study and meditation
---What skills can I develop and what plans can I put in place to ensure I will have work income at some point IF I WANT IT. That bears more study and meditation as well.
Some things are changing at work that make me think my 5 year timeline is going to be too long. We have new management, changing too many things, and while I am a pretty flexible person, I just don’t like many of the changes that are coming in the next year or so. I have a feeling that I may get even more fed up than I have been and quit within the twelve months.
I don’t worry about not having enough money to cut the cord; I realize that I could probably do it tomorrow if I didn’t have my debt (which declined significantly this month—yeah!) or wanted to work at something part time. And one good thing about being a bit older is that social security isn’t SO far off—12 years—and I feel confident that it will be around for me in some form, and I’ve gotten plenty of quarters in.
No, what worries me about quitting now (really, more of a worry now than 5 years from now), is that if I decide to go back to work, or unforeseen circumstances force me to, it’s going to be MUCH MUCH harder, perhaps impossible, at my age. I’m seeing it now already as I scan about looking for something to get me through the next 5 years. What I do is pretty specialized, and there are no companies in this town that do what I do. Do I have some skills that I could make use of in something else? Sure, but convincing someone else that I can may take some doing.
Which leaves self-employment. I’m not a programmer or engineer like so many here. I work in a particular area of the financial industry and most of my career has been spent in mid-level management. I’ve done a lot to build my skills in my industry, but nothing to build them in other things. I have no shortage of hobbies, but none that are easily monetized.
All of this leads me to wonder the following:
---Do I REALLY want to retire from actual work early, or am I just REALLY unhappy in my job? I think both, but it bears more study and meditation
---What skills can I develop and what plans can I put in place to ensure I will have work income at some point IF I WANT IT. That bears more study and meditation as well.
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EdithKeeler
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
Threw away a ton of stuff today--filled my rolling trash cart. Nothing worth trying to sell--t-shirts with stains and holes, some broken items that I was keeping "just in case," items that come in pairs where the other one is lost... stuff like that.
It feels good to clean and declutter the house, like I'm getting ready for something. Not sure what...
It feels good to clean and declutter the house, like I'm getting ready for something. Not sure what...
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IlliniDave
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
I definitely know what you mean on that count. My clutter-removal has been an ongoing process over the last six years (coincidentally, I'll be back at it to a certain extent today). I've got a good dose of the "might need that someday" fallacy gene. Something else that's slowed me is much of my clutter wasn't really "mine" but stuff left behind when first my ex-, then my oldest daughter, and finally 3 years ago my youngest all moved away. There were spaces in my house I didn't think of as "mine" until very recently. Reclaiming and re-purposing them has been liberating in the sense it engenders a visceral understanding that my life is now my own, with my role in the nuclear family now obsolete. The sense of satisfaction and relief I got when I could park my car in my garage was surprising in it's intensity. I guess I'd let myself get sorta disenfranchised in my own house.
I never thought about it in quite those words, but there is definitely an undercurrent of "getting ready" to it (beyond the obvious prerequisite for downsizing one's living quarters). Something to think about while I'm clearing out my master bathroom in preparation for demolition next week.
I never thought about it in quite those words, but there is definitely an undercurrent of "getting ready" to it (beyond the obvious prerequisite for downsizing one's living quarters). Something to think about while I'm clearing out my master bathroom in preparation for demolition next week.
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EdithKeeler
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
April has been a good month. Thanks to some windfall money and a bonus at work, my debt declined $4600 and my net worth increased by $8200.
I spent some time today running some numbers. I realized that I could take a MUCH lower-paying job (like HALF of what I currently make), still work full time (or a higher-paying part time job, of course), contribute absolutely NOTHING more to my retirement accounts, and still be in fine shape to retire--if I decided to do so--at "normal" retirement age of 62 or 65. This is an immensely empowering feeling!
I am starting to think that what I might want to do is try on something else for a while, rather than walking away from my current career, for a couple of reasons: I don't think I have my "life" in place for a completely non-working life right now, and 2) health insurance, while not a huge issue, is an issue and 3) family stuff, which I've touched on before.
I feel so burned out in my current job, I feel like I need to try something else to see if I'm really ready to pull the cord, or if I just need some re-charging when it comes to work.
Still thinking about this.
I spent some time today running some numbers. I realized that I could take a MUCH lower-paying job (like HALF of what I currently make), still work full time (or a higher-paying part time job, of course), contribute absolutely NOTHING more to my retirement accounts, and still be in fine shape to retire--if I decided to do so--at "normal" retirement age of 62 or 65. This is an immensely empowering feeling!
I am starting to think that what I might want to do is try on something else for a while, rather than walking away from my current career, for a couple of reasons: I don't think I have my "life" in place for a completely non-working life right now, and 2) health insurance, while not a huge issue, is an issue and 3) family stuff, which I've touched on before.
I feel so burned out in my current job, I feel like I need to try something else to see if I'm really ready to pull the cord, or if I just need some re-charging when it comes to work.
Still thinking about this.
Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
A successful April for you, financial speaking.
What would you envision your life to be like, i.e. "in place" in order to retire? I wonder about this question too. I'm not sure what I want to do with all my time; of course I have interests and things I like to do when I'm not working.
Work however consumes so much of my time and energy (physical/mental) that I need some space to figure out what I want to do, space and time free from having work dictate what I have to think about and where I have to be.
We need to figure our what we want to retire TO rather than just FROM.
What would you envision your life to be like, i.e. "in place" in order to retire? I wonder about this question too. I'm not sure what I want to do with all my time; of course I have interests and things I like to do when I'm not working.
Work however consumes so much of my time and energy (physical/mental) that I need some space to figure out what I want to do, space and time free from having work dictate what I have to think about and where I have to be.
We need to figure our what we want to retire TO rather than just FROM.
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EdithKeeler
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
You've summed up my thoughts better than I have, Carlos!Carlos wrote:A successful April for you, financial speaking.
What would you envision your life to be like, i.e. "in place" in order to retire? I wonder about this question too. I'm not sure what I want to do with all my time; of course I have interests and things I like to do when I'm not working.
Work however consumes so much of my time and energy (physical/mental) that I need some space to figure out what I want to do, space and time free from having work dictate what I have to think about and where I have to be.
We need to figure our what we want to retire TO rather than just FROM.
I think part of it, for me, it not having a big enough network of friends and acquaintances outside of work. I'm actually an ENTJ, and while I'm actually more toward the middle of I/E scale, I'm definitely on the E side. I think that before I quit working, I need to have more people in my life and people-oriented activities going on.
Too, there's a feeling of just wanting to do something different--to find out maybe a little bit more about myself when I'm not a 8-5 cubicle-dweller, which is exactly what I've been since 1986. I've also been someone's boss and been responsible for results for most of that, and right now, as a non-manager after so many years as one, I'm having a little trouble. I think I can translate some of this drive to my own projects, but maybe not all. This ENTJ profile https://www.personalitypage.com/ENTJ.html fits me VERY well (except for the part about having a beautiful house....). I think that, as I've come to the realization that not working is within my grasp, I'm having a little more trouble than I expected with what that really means.
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jennypenny
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
It's good to have a bit of a plan and ... structure, I'll call it, in place before you retire, but you don't have to have everything worked out. Half of what I'm doing now wasn't even on my radar when I quit. I'm also able to do/try a lot more than I anticipated.
I guess my point is that I'm a much different person now, so I couldn't have anticipated everything before I quit. You might be the same. I wouldn't worry about it overmuch.
I guess my point is that I'm a much different person now, so I couldn't have anticipated everything before I quit. You might be the same. I wouldn't worry about it overmuch.
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saving-10-years
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
I am such a really new retiree that I don't have much evidence. But on the four weeks so far I'd say that opportunities arise because you are available, ones that you would not have considered before. My regret is that I probably tried to plan too much. For the next 18 months I will be organising a big project (unpaid) and I think that part of why I said Yes to this a year back was because I wanted to fill that void. Never had that before (not even long summer holidays as worked those since age 14). Leave some space for things to occur and for change to happen (as @JennyPenny says). Great news that you have all these options now. Congrats.
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IlliniDave
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
I guess I should be more grateful than I am. Since its outset my journey has been about the "to" rather than the "from". And it's actually largely geographic in nature.EdithKeeler wrote:You've summed up my thoughts better than I have, Carlos!Carlos wrote:A successful April for you, financial speaking.
What would you envision your life to be like, i.e. "in place" in order to retire? I wonder about this question too. I'm not sure what I want to do with all my time; of course I have interests and things I like to do when I'm not working.
Work however consumes so much of my time and energy (physical/mental) that I need some space to figure out what I want to do, space and time free from having work dictate what I have to think about and where I have to be.
We need to figure our what we want to retire TO rather than just FROM.
I think part of it, for me, it not having a big enough network of friends and acquaintances outside of work. I'm actually an ENTJ, and while I'm actually more toward the middle of I/E scale, I'm definitely on the E side. I think that before I quit working, I need to have more people in my life and people-oriented activities going on.
Too, there's a feeling of just wanting to do something different--to find out maybe a little bit more about myself when I'm not a 8-5 cubicle-dweller, which is exactly what I've been since 1986. I've also been someone's boss and been responsible for results for most of that, and right now, as a non-manager after so many years as one, I'm having a little trouble. I think I can translate some of this drive to my own projects, but maybe not all. This ENTJ profile https://www.personalitypage.com/ENTJ.html fits me VERY well (except for the part about having a beautiful house....). I think that, as I've come to the realization that not working is within my grasp, I'm having a little more trouble than I expected with what that really means.
My heart doesn't pound in my chest and my breathing doesn't get heavy on my drive to work in the morning, but it's really not that bad most of the time. If I could pick up my job and move it 3 states away, retiring from full-time professional employment would become far less urgent. I do look forward to having more ability to control my own time on an ongoing basis, don't get me wrong, and it's a significant "pull". But I've always seen this as a movement towards something, rather than a movement away from something. That seems to make me atypical.
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EdithKeeler
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Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
Random thoughts today, some remotely related to retiring early (at least in my own mind....):
1. Watching my mom struggle with the slings and arrows of aging has made me realize that I’m not getting enough “gusto” in my life. She’s got very limited mobility, and she’s pretty much given up. She has Parkinson’s, and serious arthritis, she can barely walk through the house, and she suffers with depression. She has SO many regrets about her life, tells me all the time she wishes she could go to the beach, could have lived at the beach. I wish I could give her that, but I can’t. Selfishly, when I get to the point in life where I can’t do much anymore, I don’t want to have regrets. There are things I need to be doing now to ensure that doesn’t happen.
2. If I never hear the damn phrase “just be glad you have a job” again, I’ll be happy. This is said by people that I work with, some in management. Is “having a job” what we aspire to?? I commented to someone that sometimes I felt like a clerical person, I have so much paperwork. I was told “well, you get paid well to be a secretary, you shouldn’t complain.” (Ok, I admit that I shouldn’t complain). But seriously—is that the goal? Just having someplace to go every morning and getting a pay check every 2 weeks until we retire to the sofa (like my mom) and eventually die?? No thanks!
3. Is geography destiny? If I could live anywhere, where would I live? Not here. But where? Big city? Small town? Beach town (probably).
4. So many decisions in my life have been based on my career. My career that seemed so important, but hasn’t resulted in much. Friendships lost because of distance (corporate moves) and time (working too many hours). Yeah, I make good money. Have the sacrifices been worth it?
5. Two quotes from Epicurus I think I’m going to embroider on a pillow:
“It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet, than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble.”
“A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs.”
1. Watching my mom struggle with the slings and arrows of aging has made me realize that I’m not getting enough “gusto” in my life. She’s got very limited mobility, and she’s pretty much given up. She has Parkinson’s, and serious arthritis, she can barely walk through the house, and she suffers with depression. She has SO many regrets about her life, tells me all the time she wishes she could go to the beach, could have lived at the beach. I wish I could give her that, but I can’t. Selfishly, when I get to the point in life where I can’t do much anymore, I don’t want to have regrets. There are things I need to be doing now to ensure that doesn’t happen.
2. If I never hear the damn phrase “just be glad you have a job” again, I’ll be happy. This is said by people that I work with, some in management. Is “having a job” what we aspire to?? I commented to someone that sometimes I felt like a clerical person, I have so much paperwork. I was told “well, you get paid well to be a secretary, you shouldn’t complain.” (Ok, I admit that I shouldn’t complain). But seriously—is that the goal? Just having someplace to go every morning and getting a pay check every 2 weeks until we retire to the sofa (like my mom) and eventually die?? No thanks!
3. Is geography destiny? If I could live anywhere, where would I live? Not here. But where? Big city? Small town? Beach town (probably).
4. So many decisions in my life have been based on my career. My career that seemed so important, but hasn’t resulted in much. Friendships lost because of distance (corporate moves) and time (working too many hours). Yeah, I make good money. Have the sacrifices been worth it?
5. Two quotes from Epicurus I think I’m going to embroider on a pillow:
“It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet, than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble.”
“A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs.”
Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
Love those quotes!
Re: Too Old To Retire "Young"
Edith, I enjoy your writing.
