retirement: RETIREMENT IS NOT A CURSE

retirement: RETIREMENT IS NOT A CURSE: GREY is between BLACK and WHITE...ALL  ARE REAL COLOURS WITH ITS OWN "MEANING AND VALUE" Retirement or Old age is ...

RETIREMENT IS NOT A CURSE

GREY is between BLACK and WHITE...ALL  ARE REAL COLOURS WITH ITS OWN "MEANING AND VALUE"

Retirement or Old age is not a curse though superficially it may seem so. The most certain thing is that everybody will grow old, You and I ,but the most uncertain thing is the way in which one is going to face the reality called retirement and old age .And this is a Universal “problem”(fact) not at all limited to any nation or race in the world.

The great industry leader Mr.Ratan Tata, who led the TATA group  of companies into the most powerful and competitive  global arena retired after an eventful long period .He “ tweeted “on28th January ,a month after his retirement “Life has been wonderfully pleasant .There has been more time to be at home ,play with my dogs, and catch upon smaller things that I never found the time do earlier.”

Now there is every possibility of commenting on this saying that R. TATA can afford to enjoy his post retirement life in anyway because he has money. But this is not at all true in the sense that no one loses the urge to live actively despite  the  ageing process. It is more of a psychological thing . For example ,there are people who never lose their enthusiasm to learn new things and their motivation is only to do what they like and their curiosity urges them to go forward.

 Just as I am writing this ,an elderly gentleman with full flowing white hair walks into my room (I am the Director of a management college) and expresses his intention to join the BBA course of three years . He told me that he is 70 years old and he could not complete his degree course since he discontinued his studies to enter the government service .He wanted to join as a regular student !!.I appreciated his enthusiasm but I asked to join in the distance education programme for BSW  Bachelor of Social Work which he will enjoy learning . He was convinced and he has almost decided to join the course. If he does that he will have a new goal in life ,not exactly for getting a job but to satisfy his hunger for knowledge.

Retirement is inevitable and it is a fact though one would like to consider a figment of imagination. But life after retirement , something to be relished and most often it will turn out to be very productive in terms of satisfaction and fulfillment  if one develops a positive attitude to the whole thing .Our need for money after retirement may cause some concern but that is only a minor part compared to the emptiness  and anxiety created by the many extra hours that you get once the regular work is over.

 I still remember a professor who used to come to the campus on a daily basis and sit in the department .For some days other faculty members responded to him with respect but before long the retired professor was left alone and he was made to feel, of course indirectly ,that his presence was not liked there. He tried to hang on ,despite this, but finally stopped coming .

This gentleman faced this situation because of three reasons 1.He did not care to plan as to what he should be doing after retirement 2.He did not cultivate any other interest in life to pursue after his regular service.3.he was not mentally prepared to be away from the comfort  zone  where he used to spend his time for more than 30 years.

 He lived only for three years after his retirement and it is said that he went into depression and died a frustrated man not even liked by his own family. This because his behaviour changed and started quarrelling with everybody in the house .But he could have lived a happy retired life if he had mentally prepared to accept the fact and change his attitude towards work and life .

A study says that Women take retirement in  a positive  way ,and most of them enjoy the life after retirement .

        “When men reach their sixties and retire ,they goes to pieces. Women go right on cooking “Gail Sheehy

But actually speaking retirement is the right time to start and do something you always wanted to do. But it is easy to say this and not at all easy to put into practice  until and unless proper planning is done much in advance.

All depends on how you manage your time which is in plenty after you retire. You should have a goal ( it does not matter whether the goal is to become the President of your country or to become a good marathon  runner) to use your available time ( in plenty ) in a way that you would enjoy what you are doing . This is very much possible provided you have the will to do it .

Have you ever sat down and thought,

   What is my purpose in life?

What is my passion?

    Where do I go from here?

Please take paper and write it down and let us see what happens ..

To be continued....Varma

Retirement

U DON’T- ‘DIE’- TILL U “DIE”

RETIREMENT IS NOTHING BUT…

                                      A REBIRTH TO DO BETTER THINGS

This is a clipping from The Hindu and deals with the some problems about retirement .. I think it is a good thought in this context

Indian psyche & senior citizens

V. SRIHARSHA

Pension blues and post-retirement life are two scary areas which any 

middle-class employee would find perplexing

Had Mark Twain lived in India and experienced the travails of senior citizens, he would have rephrased his words on a positive frame of mind. His quote, “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter,” would have been revised as “Age does matter over mind, if you don’t mind you are in trouble” in India.

In fact, there is a sense of pity and anxiety the moment people retire from active service and are dismissed as old fossil in a maddening race for money, fame and name. They allow the near and dear to grab as much wealth as possible. They also realise that in this unpredictable lifestyle they may not even live to see the brighter morrow to throw money as they like, yet they chase that cushy bank balance which could see them through their unexplored post-retirement life.

Truly, none should grudge this thinking and people should also spare a thought for their elderly parents in the autumn of their lives. Sadly, it’s a vicious circle where the earning member and his wife struggle to provide a decent education to their kids and yet try to balance their lives with the well-being of elders.

An NGO study in a national daily gives a disturbing picture of the lives of senior citizens. One out of every two senior citizens in urban India is unhappy with his/her living conditions and 80% are looking for a better lifestyle that includes more shopping, socialising and holidays. Perhaps, this may not be actually true since a majority of them prefer to visit temples/shrines and listen to discourses.

The nationwide survey of 1,900 senior citizens was conducted across 12 cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore by a market research firm over three months last year. It studied four parameters — socio-economic issues, security issues, healthcare and lifestyle needs. More than 80% of seniors seek to sustain their lifestyle with age or improve it, as they do not wish to ‘retire’ from a normal, active life, the study found. More senior citizens want to stay young at heart, with 75% respondents saying they wanted to socialise, engage in sports, go on a leisure outing and shop for luxury goods.

This may be true in cases where their savings can ensure that lifestyle but a majority of the pensioners make it doubly sure before spending their pension on any such luxurious getaways.

A regular morning walker with me, a D-G of a Government of India establishment, found himself lost in society the day he retired. He stopped appearing for the morning walk as preparatory to his retirement for the past 15 days and just two days after his retirement he looked totally haggard, lost and shaken.

I could read his emotions and forlorn state, as if he was cut off from society. He was a terror in his power-packed post and many of his colleagues disliked his behaviour. The day he retired, many were found celebrating, while the formal retirement function was on in another wing of the office! Can we blame him for discharging his duties dispassionately and curtly? As my former boss used to say, “I am not paid to please all” ... true, but does he have to be a demon to be an upright and disciplined boss?

Pension blues and post-retirement life are two dark and scary areas which any middle-class employee would find perplexing. Sadly, the plight is more pitiable in the private sector where there are no good advisers to guide you on a contented life. Health is one big uncertain zone where one’s calculations go haywire if a retired person falls sick. Hospital expenses shoot up, drilling a hole into his savings. There is no national social security or health plan for all. The Central Government Health Scheme is one saving grace for retired employees, while the private sector has no such scheme. As American boxer George Foreman rightly said, the “question isn’t at what age I want to retire, it’s at what income.” How true. Income and savings are interlinked bogies and invariably there is a yawning gap between what you earn and save. Sadly, the state has no plans for senior citizens and it feels its responsibility is limited to caring for pensioners of the central government. Social security schemes are a big disappointment and one has to fend for oneself. The condition is deplorable in rural areas and interiors of the country. It’s only the politicians who irrespective of their age survive the hardship thanks to their clout and power. The unsung and destitute senior citizens lead a pathetic life

Retirement

U DON’T- ‘DIE’- TILL U “DIE”

RETIREMENT IS NOTHING BUT…

A REBIRTH TO DO BETTER THINGS

   Old age is a reality "no man was ever born who could conquer old age " But we can ,if we change our attitude  a little bit ,tackle                            to a certain extent ,the difficult situation. 

Mostly people who retire start getting a negative attitude to life and feel a sense of helplessness and fear that they will be sidelined and ignored by the family and society. This is not true .This is true only if you yourself want to be treated like that .A friend of mine , who was very active , was to retire in three months time and  one day , suddenly he appeared in the workplace with uncombed hair( he used to be very careful about his dress and hairstyle) and shabby clothes . 

All of us were surprised at this and we laughed but he was very serious ( he was a jovial person) . All of us  were a little puzzled at this drastic change in his attitude which was just opposite of what he had shown earlier .He came out of service ,,kept himself inside his house ,started drinking ,became a drunkard in six months ,lost all the money he saved, started borrowing, pushed the family into debt, and one morning he died a deserved death but not before destroying all the people who loved him as husband , as father, as brother , as uncle etc. 

His case is  a typical example of the lack of perception or a wrong perception about life as a whole and life after the so –called retirement .He could have spent his life very usefully to himself and others and enjoyed it too much better than when he was in regular employment if only he had prepared his mind to do things that he liked most .

Senior citizens have so many fears and many of them are genuine and the main concerns are around  loneliness, finance and a feeling of not being cared for .Indian senior citizens are somewhat different fro their western counterparts because they have a secret wish that they will be cared for in their old age which they did ,perhaps ,when their parents became old. but times have changed and life of the present generation has undergone unimaginable mutations .

Elderly people have to be realistic but the youngsters should realize the plight of the elders and their psychology.There will be ,sooner than later,people will start to retire mentally at 40,45,580,55,60 etc.and after that what ...? It is a big question mark.

Retirement

U DON’T- ‘DIE’- TILL U “DIE”

RETIREMENT IS NOTHING BUT…

A REBIRTH TO DO BETTER THINGS

The word RETIRE actually should mean REFRESH .Hence Retiring is nothing but Refreshing. Change the perception that life is over at 45, 55,60,65,70,75 etc. Never hide behind the numbers because the qualitative  value of a number is very relative and undergoes drastic changes depending upon the context and the mindset. 

Millions of people find a deep chasm in front of them when they come out of their work at a particular age . A sort of emptiness and meaninglessness dawn on them and it starts hammering their mind day and night . 

Some enter into a life of self- pity( which is very dangerous) some finds solace in drinking alcohol( very destructive) some go to some clubs which encourages playing cards and other meaningless pursuits. They come into continuous contact with people with the same negative attitude about life . These contacts take away whatever enthusiasm left in your mind and body.

But there are exception to this but the majority , as per a recent research , feel rudderless , hopeless  and develop a pessimistic attitude which slowly eat into the mental and physical system . 

But once a person allows these things to settle down in his or her mind the result will be a fast deterioration into bad health, mental atrophy and finally death .Death has to happen  for everyone but a death after a meaningful life has a positive side to it .one need not be afraid of it .it will come when it should come , till then…enjoy what you do.

RETIREMENT

U DON’T- ‘DIE’- TILL U “DIE”

RETIREMENT IS NOTHING BUT…

A REBIRTH TO DO BETTER THINGS

RETIREMENT IS NOT GETTING DISABLED MENTALLY,IN FACT, IT  IS THE RIGHT  TIME TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT .. WE SHALL CONTINUE...

There are millions of real life examples of people with unimaginable physical disabilities ( the latest and excellent phrase for such brothers and sisters is a beautiful one ; (Differently “enabled” persons!!)

There are singers who cannot hear ,there are blond people who have excelled in writing ,there are dancers who are deaf and dumb, there are athletes who jave no legs but run Olympics’, there are painters who have no hands ,there are delivers who have no legs, there are persons who climbed the EVEREST without legs!! , ,,, the list is endless and you will read in this book some real stories of such people who are courageous ,never lose patience ,never sit idle, never mind their physical problems. 

They overcame their so called disabilities with mental power which every one of us has in plenty ... if only we use it with passion( most of us never explore or exploit our own potential)   

You can excel in anything you want to do ,if you have a personal goal and will. Most of on there will be a desire to get something but very few people put fire behind their desire, they do not put in efforts to find out how they can achieve that .Many are hesitant to ask anybody anything that are connected to their goal or vision . This is because people are shy to ask for help, their EGO stops them from approaching anybody for anything and this is generally because of a fear of failure which is only a thought process which paralyses all their enthusiasm.

 Overcoming fear of failure is the main thing to succeed in any field. Man is not alone , he is not an island , he always craves for companionship and support to go forward. There should be ( and the fact is that there will be,,) somebody to motivate you or you should be able to motivate yourself .

Life is fun ,if you take it that way. It is a continuous failure if you take it that way. It is you who will decide to make a choice that suits you and when that is done it will result in  a commitment which will serve as a motivator to proceed further.

U don,t "die" till U "die"

U don,t "die" till U "die"

1

Retirement is merely a number 45 ,55,60.62 65 or 70.It is a sterile number which has no meaning and have no relationship to your real life except for some physical changes that may happen to every person physically. 

Now ,according the latest trend so many men and men have started to think of coming out of their first profession and take a break to do something they are passionate of doing , what they always wanted to do in life  

But please remember that MIND is always superior to body and our body, most of the time obeys the orders of our mind. Age is only a number, a cipher for the records.  

“A man can't retire his experience.  He must use it.”  ~Bernard Baruch.

2

I happened to meet a gentleman in a marriage function ,aged  around 56,and he looked rather desperate. I watched him for sometime and a person sitting next to him tried to start a conversation with him.

 He responded with a single word ..”I retired a year back”..and turned away with a blank expression. I moved a little closer to him just to interact with him and my curiosity was roused when he moved from there to a near y chair , probably avoid me. But also moved and sat by his side and just asked “ I heard that you are not working now .” 

He looked at me sharply but there was much self-pity in that look . 

I smiled and told him “Why don’t you think about doing something which you like “ he looked at me and there was a big question mark on his face. “I am unable to think about anything to do ..in fact I do not know anything else than my office work which I was doing for 30 years . “Why are you asking me all these. I am not interested in anything” He was a little upset and excused himself and moved away without looking back.

This  clearly is a problem with his negative thinking and ending up with a feeling of uselessness and a sort of mental disability much worse than unimaginable physical disabilities which will paralyze anybody and put him or her out of action and in fact out of life . 

But in many cases we see thousands of people overcome and forget their terrible physical disabilities and perform “miracles” in real life ..really astonishing performances which challenges even physically enabled persons.

This should serve as an eye opener to all those who think that they are “disabled “after the so called retirement “Retirement is really another word for empowerment : empowerment to do something really valuable to yourself and to the society around you.

“We have no porch, no rocking chair — and no time. My biggest need is a calendar because there are so many things to do. Now I encourage people to retire — the younger the better.”

-- Maurice Musholt