A lifetime has often been referred to as “three score and ten” or 70 years. That is no longer the case. Life expectancy for many is now well into the nineties and beyond. What image of a person that age comes to mind? The Queen of England or possibly one of the many “faces in the window” during the past year, living in isolation and fear of the COVID-19 virus like the rest of us, or could the extra time on this earth be seen as a possibility, an opportunity to become who it is we were meant to be. As Adrienne Clarkson, the then Governor General of Canada, pointed out to the audience attending the Creative Retirement’s Annual General Meeting in the year 2,000,”retirement is a time to become who it is we are meant to be.” She suggested that during the first fifty years of our lives, first our family, then the school or education system we attend and finally our employers are very influential in shaping our goals and who we see ourselves to be. Retirement is an opportunity for us to explore our passions, take a step or two into the unknown and become who we really are and who we are meant to be.
Think on the meaning within this fridge magnet: “For the ignorant old age is as winter, For the learned it is the harvest.” Does your life feel like you are living a life of winter or are you enjoying the results of your past decisions and endeavours, your harvest? But now, instead of looking at the past let us look ahead at what is possible in the life that each of us chooses to live. Let’s talk about living, loving, learning and leaving a legacy.
Let’s start with the end in mind, how will each of us answer to the question: Why am I here? What will the world look like because I was in it? Will my life lived make a difference? Obituaries are the sum of a life put into public view. The format is most often: lifespan in years, education, and then employment accomplishments if you are a male and if a woman, what important family role you fulfilled. Lately the weekly articles entitled “Passages” in Winnipeg’s daily newspaper, tell interesting stories about the results of some people’s passionate living, often over a considerable amount of time with positive effects on the world they inhabit. Why not take the challenge yourself right now and write your own obituary. What do you want people to say about you after you die? Pick a time in the future to give a time frame, say ten years, pick a few traits to start with, objectify these into actions for yourself and start behaving towards accomplishing those traits. Let’s take an example – generous. What actions go with the word generous for you? Are you generous with your time, your money, your encouragement to those you care about as well as care for?
And while you are at it start thinking about “Money and the Meaning of Life.” Do you worry about having enough? Do you have the skills for and a passion for something in your life that can support you financially for as long as you live? It is all about dreaming and believing those dreams can become a reality. Living, loving, learning and leaving a legacy. It is never too late to begin so let’s carry on the conversation next month.