Retirement Wishes

One of my coworkers is retiring on Monday. She’s barely over 50 years old and retiring, mind you. I am very jealous.

The other evening, at her and her husband’s retirement party, I was chatting with another colleague about it. I realized that I still have likely another 20-25 years to go in my career. That’s a good 4,000-some-odd days worth of work still to put in.

Now, I happen to love my work. I have a great boss, and really do work with some incredibly gifted people. My employer treats its employees very well and with a lot of respect. The work itself is challenging, rewarding, and at times frustrating. I’m learning a heck of a lot, and I’m right where I’m supposed to be in my career.

But then there’s the beach. Or the mountains, or the country, or right where we are. There’s the lack of another 4,000+ days of work left that feels so appealing.

But think about it a bit more. When I’m 65 years old or so, and it’s time for me to retire, will I want to stop? Will I be happy that I’d made it to the end of a long 45-year journey, and that it was time to say goodbye to all my work-related rewards, colleagues, learning? Maybe. Or maybe I will wish for something else entirely…