Thrive In RetirementSample

No Expiration Date

Our word “retirement” comes from a French word “retirer,” which means to withdraw—as if people who retire have passed their “best by” date. But God has a better design for your life. He is the Great Designer and you are his masterpiece. He has good things planned for you. And not only for your working “productive” years. All of your life is meant to have purpose. You don’t have a “best by” date; Psalm 92 says you can stay fresh and green, even in old age.

Put in clinical terms, you can live with purpose. And having purpose is a great advantage. After following a group of older adults for more than eight years, British researchers found that those who had a high sense of purpose in their lives were 30 percent less likely to die. In another study, Dr. Patricia Boyle found that out of 1000 people with an average age of eighty, those who felt they had purpose in life were 2.4 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those without a sense of purpose.

When you find something you can say fits you so well that you feel it is the reason you were born, then you are most fortunate. I know a man who left a profitable practice as a chiropractor to work with his wife in Eastern Europe in a program that serves children who live in small villages. That cause is so satisfying and such a great fit for their passions that he commented to me once, “I was made for this!” 

What is in store when nothing is a perfect fit? There are still good ways to spend your life. You can’t feel your life is valuable if you don’t think you are involved in anything that matters. You thrive when you let God the Designer fill your life with purpose that does not expire at age sixty-five. (For more ideas on finding purpose at this stage of your life, check out AmazingAge.com.)

Say no to nothingness. Nothingness is deadly. Say no to “give-up-itis.” Recognize the danger signal when you sink to low meaning for your life and have little desire to do anything. Famed educator Leopold Hartley Grindon issued a similar caution: “Life is a weariness only to the idle, or where the soul is empty.” 

How would you describe your sense of purpose in this stage of life? If your feelings of purpose are weak, what steps will you take to connect with a cause or activity that feels meaningful to you?