I worked with someone who had a calendar at work where every day he would X out another date moving him closer to retirement. I always felt the weight of that calendar, like he was a prisoner marking time on a cell wall.
I recently saw him and asked how it was going. “Great,” he said. “I’m out golfing every day. Life is good.”
While I wish him well in retirement, I am still saddened by the fact that he had to come to the late stages of life before he could truly enjoy it.
Meaningful work is a gift. If you don’t have it in your life, do something about it besides X-ing dates off the calendar waiting for the end to come. It may arrive in ways other than what you planned.
