The more you enjoy, the more your surroundings become enriched. Let’s think how to spend time after retirement
“The more you enjoy yourself, the more your surroundings become enriched”
This is what my 83-yeas-old-to-be father said to me.
My father had got his knees worse since his late seventies and he was no longer able to continue his favorite physical hobbies such as ski, mountain-climbing and marathon. Since his youth, he had written down every time, which mountain he climbed when, how many kilometers he ran etc. in his notebooks that were piled up to several dozens. Those glorious records unfortunately had been stopped.
Now, in the morning, he listens to English and Chinese lessons on the radio, and if it is fine, he takes care of his garden. In the afternoon, after piano lesson, he walks around the neighborhood for about an hour and reads English news paper before dinner. His routine is repeated every day and except going out for weekly piano lesson, he would rarely go out.
“Why you study English and Chinese? You don’t talk to foreigners nor have a plan for traveling overseas. About piano, you don’t attend recital, either, just practicing the same song for a year now.”
What about me, I have recently handed over the leadership role to the younger generation due to the age limit system for managerial personnel in my company. No matter working hard or not, my salary goes down. My company asks employees of over-fifties for early retirement. Is this the result of what I devoted myself for a long time? It was a sudden change in the position.
At such times, I asked my farther. And that was his answer written in the initial paragraph.
Though the restriction of going out by COVID-19 continued, his routine was no change. “Reading everyday, now I could understand English articles so smoothly”, he boasted to me.
On the other hand, my mother who enjoyed interaction with people and who often went out for volunteer and club activities, seems to be a little lonely because all the activities are stopped. She is getting hard of hearing and is also getting forgetful.
What does it mean to get old?
Come to think of it.. we can not continue volunteers and club activities forever. If we have physical and mental declines, we need to handover the role to younger people just like in the company. If we can not do things at the same speed and the same way as other people do, we may feel uncomfortable to be there.
Perhaps, it is really powerful to have some hobbies that I can grow broadly inside of me, making myself enjoy. Even if I can’t go out, I can’t meet friends, I have only myself.
In fact, the reason why my farther started playing piano after his retirement, is because he longed for a long time, but at the same time, he thought that using the fingertips prevents dementia. ‘Not become dementia’ is his basic for everything. Studying foreign languages also uses the brain. Now my father’s long-term strategy seems to be taking effect.
While I stay at home without going out for more than 4 months since telecommuting was started, I have thought about how to spend time after retirement.
No need to say, but it is me who stays with me until the last moment. If I can play with myself, I can be happy. The more I enjoy myself, the more my surroundings become enriched. I wish I could roll such a wonderful cycle.
After retirement, of course, but I can start even now.
There were times when I could enjoy working hard, when I could feel rewarding by the evaluation of others and the achievement. However it is over now. If asked, “would you like to go back?”, the answer is NO. From now on, I face and enjoy myself. That way, my friends, family and colleagues could also enjoy. And enriched emotions would be spread out… Actually this sounds fantastic!
