“Tell me what you read, and I’ll tell you who you are is true enough, but I’d know you better if you told me what you reread.”
Francois MauriacWe have posted more than 400 articles on this blog. I have read all of them and reread some. I have just reread Wong Foot Hin’s contribution, “Retirement Can be a Scary Thing,” and the opening line summarised his concern:
“When I hear horror stories from friends about what happened when their parents retired, I get terrified. It ranges from frequent quarrels to divorces, from bouts of depression, early onset of dementia to even early death.”
Wong Foot HinI think the fear is legitimate and genuine. Many research findings warn us of the (potentially) rocky road, dangerous stretches, and known accident hotspots. Proactive souls like Wong Foot Hin have taken concrete steps to navigate the charted (and uncharted) waters. Some of us defer retirement (as long as possible) by following the advice of Lee Kuan Yew – do not retire. One of the proponents of “do not retire” was the legendary Spanish Catalan cellist Pablo Casals (1876–1973), who believed creative vitality and working with love prolong our life. He said:
“The man who works and is never bored is never old. Work and interest in worthwhile things are the best remedies for age.”
Pablo CasalsPascal was a remarkable musician, a proponent for freedom (Recipient of the U.N. Peace Medal), and a generous man with an uncommon compassionate heart. In short, he lived a life brimming with zest and full of meaning. In his 1970 autobiography (Joys and Sorrows) he shared the source of his exuberant life energy (the true fountain of youth):
“If you continue to work and to absorb the beauty in the world about you, you find that age does not necessarily mean getting old…I feel many things more intensely than ever before, and life is fascinating… My work is my life. I cannot think of one without the other…The man who works and is never bored is never old. Work and interest in worthwhile things are the best remedies for age.”
And so, you have it – keep working! As a schoolboy, my headmaster told us to choose a job we love, and we will never have to work a day. This way, there is no distinction between work, play, hobbies, and pastimes. Through purpose work, Casals argues, we grow and renew ourselves, and this process keeps us young in heart. And being young at heart has everything to do with our attitude and beliefs toward life.
But then, I have friends who retired at precisely the age they could retire (as stipulated by the employment contract). They spurned the options to renew their contracts. Some of them take advantage of early retirement options and golden handshakes gleefully. So, is there any underlying truth that can explain why people, working as long as possible or retiring as soon as possible, do in the end, remain zestful and happy?
To be continued in Part II
Vince
Dr Vincent Chong is a retired Professor of Radiology at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
