Do Something! (?)

Andy and I were getting caught up recently after an unusually long hiatus (for us, anyway), as he had spent the past few months caring for his wife as she went through a serous medical situation,  which now, we hope, is being resolved.  In any event, when we connected by phone, he asked me what I had been doing lately.  I told him “nothing” – and that I had been enjoying it!  If you know Andy Gogates, you know he is always on the move.  A new project, a new trip, a new adventure of some kind.  I, on the other hand, enjoy an occasional game of golf, reading a good book, and puttering around the house.  As our conversation went on, Andy said isn’t it interesting that retirees, and particularly young retirees, get nervous about doing nothing?  Like it just isn’t what you are supposed to do when you retire?  I told him that personally, I hadn’t had any problem with it.  He laughed and we both remembered the following Calvin and Hobbs cartoon from Bill Waterson which we highlighted in our book, Make Retirement…Work:

For some of us, this is how retirement feels.  There is no rule that says you HAVE to stay busy. In fact, as Andy pointed out to me, even when you think you are doing nothing, you are usually at least thinking about doing something.  And it is during these precious times of quiet reflection that our sense of purpose emerges, where new ideas are incubated, and where we remind ourselves to keep moving, but to smell the roses along the way.

Rick Hearin