I attended a wedding lunch over the weekend. It was the marriage of the son of one of my old neighbours. I also met many old friends there— lots to catch up on.
Many are retirees, and the common question asked was what they have been busy with all these years in retirement. Some were busy with grandchildren. Some have been volunteering in church service, while others are pursuing a hobby.
Everyone was complaining about how difficult it was to transition from a working life into a new retirement phase of something they had not done before. Even looking after children is no longer the same as they experienced 30-odd years ago.
But we all agree that we get better at doing it daily, and soon, we learn the tricks of getting the job done in a shorter time. It is all about how well we know what is going on in what we are doing and discovering our ability to adapt to changes and respond positively and sensibly.
In fact, from my encounters with people starting in photography, they blame the camera or phone they had for lousy pictures. Most believe that more expensive, more sophisticated and costly phones or cameras can produce better photos.
But one of them said that it is not about the tools (phone or camera) but about how well the user knows his tools and can use all its best features and abilities together with the user’s skill to produce a good-looking picture.
It is the same in retirement. We need to know our strengths and weaknesses, limitations and abilities, and then we can enjoy what we do. But we must take the courage to discover ourselves and embark on new things, and we may find we have some hidden talent.
We always thought that we knew ourselves well. But retirement is a time for us to discover the hidden treasure within us, and I assure you that you will be surprised that you have a talent you never knew.
William Kho
William Kho was a senior management staff member of a water treatment company. He is now fully retired and pursuing a happy and meaningful retirement life.
