End Of Achievement

There are those who know all about achievement in one form or another whether that is through their normal work world or in their personal life. And, then there are those who can’t wait for retirement so that they can just do nothing, no worry about achievement any longer.

An Example
Such is the case of my brother-in-law who has worked hard but can’t wait until the day comes when he can just sit around and do nothing. And, he has chosen just the right place to do his “nothing business” since he bought a cottage out in the country.

It’s a funny thing about achievement though. Sometimes it comes along even when you do not think much about it.

I know he loves reading, for example, so I guess he is going to give it up because he doesn’t want to do anything. He should just probably throw all his books away and his brand new techno reader – it isn’t going to be used anyway so why bring it along just to sit there and collect dust mites.

And, then there is the pool he can’t wait to use this coming summer. But, once he retires, he might as well let it be a big gold fish bowl because to do nothing means he won’t want to ensure that it is chemically balanced, or even to learn the best ways to clean and care for it. After all, he doesn’t want to do anything and learning is doing something. So, welcome to the biggest fish bowl I’ve ever seen. Can’t wait to see all those big goldfish.

I suppose that his retirement is going to be the age-old practice of sitting around the deck on his big swing or rocking chair. Oh, just a minute, he sold the rocking chair to me so I guess it is the big swing. What a great time that will be sitting on the big swing all summer just watching life goes by as the occasional car travels down the country road, watching the birds, and watching the rust pile up and erode his metal swing. Oh well, might as well just let it rot, after all, he wouldn’t want to learn how to keep it in good shape to last for years.

On the other hand, I hope he learns how to play horseshoes well before he retires. I hate to always beat him at everything so maybe, just maybe, he might be good at something before he doesn’t want to learn after retirement – do not want to task his brain cells too much. But, that’s okay too – once he retires, I am sure I could learn to beat him even if he starts out well because, after all, he won’t continue learning to improve his skills.

Don’t Let This Happen To You
I guess achievement dies along with retirement – nothing more to learn, nothing more to explore, no new places to visit as was once a desire, no more having to look forward to the day break because it will just be the same old, same old. Welcome to the world of non-achievement.

Inspirational Quotes for Reflection:
“I believe that to achieve success in your retirement years you need to create a balance in your life.”Michael Bennett

“We all spend our lives so wrapped up in the here and now that retirement comes around too soon and many of us are just not mentally prepared to deal with it. I would say, retirement is the golden phase of your life and just as you have made a success of the rest of your life there is no reason why you can’t make a success of this phase too.”Michael Bennett

“Retire from your job but never from meaningful projects. “Stephen R. Covey