Failure Was My Muse
My name is Dr. Rick and I am the author of Retirement: Different by Design. This book wasn't my "first rodeo" but it became a very personal journey for me. It forced me not only to write, but to face my own mortality--that, indeed, I was getting older and that work, perhaps, is not the only way to stay connected to the world and to others.
You see in my first attempt at retirement I failed--I failed to freely accept what retirement offered, a second chance a mulligan life's one and only do-over. I was contacted by a "headhunter" who was very persuasive, and while I demurred, I was in reality very pleased that I was still "wanted." After about 3 months of this hiring ritual I looked "myself" in the mirror of life and asked, Do you really want to go back to the snake pit you finally extricated yourself from? Reason prevailed; and, I withdrew from the search.
Then I asked myself the question--what is retirement really all about? I was frightened by the retirement I viewed when visiting my mother in Florida, truly the land of the "yet to be dead." I don't mean to sound too harsh, but it was a place filled with old people, not as old as I am now, of course, perspective is everything, but old to me back then. And, I asked myself another question, "Is that all there is?"
So I decided to find out what this thing called "Retirement" is all about. Now I was on the "inside looking out" so I applied my over four decades of university leadership, life experience consulting, scholarship, behavioral and social research to understanding retirement's moving parts--all of them. I was helped along on my retirement journey by a very inspiring quote from Samuel Beckett who said, "Ever tried. Ever Failed. No Matter. Try Again. Fail Better. But one thing is for sure wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever life throws at us--ALWAYS BUT ALWAYS ENJOY THE RIDE! Regards, Dr. Rick
My web site is a good place to start if you want to learn more about retirement and why some of us struggle with it, while others anxiously await its presence. URL:rdbd.info; Google: www.retirementdifferentbydesign.com
You see in my first attempt at retirement I failed--I failed to freely accept what retirement offered, a second chance a mulligan life's one and only do-over. I was contacted by a "headhunter" who was very persuasive, and while I demurred, I was in reality very pleased that I was still "wanted." After about 3 months of this hiring ritual I looked "myself" in the mirror of life and asked, Do you really want to go back to the snake pit you finally extricated yourself from? Reason prevailed; and, I withdrew from the search.
Then I asked myself the question--what is retirement really all about? I was frightened by the retirement I viewed when visiting my mother in Florida, truly the land of the "yet to be dead." I don't mean to sound too harsh, but it was a place filled with old people, not as old as I am now, of course, perspective is everything, but old to me back then. And, I asked myself another question, "Is that all there is?"
So I decided to find out what this thing called "Retirement" is all about. Now I was on the "inside looking out" so I applied my over four decades of university leadership, life experience consulting, scholarship, behavioral and social research to understanding retirement's moving parts--all of them. I was helped along on my retirement journey by a very inspiring quote from Samuel Beckett who said, "Ever tried. Ever Failed. No Matter. Try Again. Fail Better. But one thing is for sure wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever life throws at us--ALWAYS BUT ALWAYS ENJOY THE RIDE! Regards, Dr. Rick
My web site is a good place to start if you want to learn more about retirement and why some of us struggle with it, while others anxiously await its presence. URL:rdbd.info; Google: www.retirementdifferentbydesign.com
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