Our language, in many instances, is very imprecise. I’m retired. So are most of my friends and acquaintances. We use the word to mean those of us who are no longer ‘working’. We’re no longer spending time doing a task for which we are paid. But look at the word, the spelling. What should it mean?
There are two obvious meanings and both, strangely enough, are born out in fact. The first choice is to be tired, again. As in, you were tired before: now you are re-tired. This certainly describes most of us. We certainly look and act tired. Few of us make any attempt to keep physically active and tend to spend most of our time sitting, reclining or lying down. Most of us have no plans for learning new things and changing old habits. We measure success in how little one day changes from another or if our bodily functions haven’t deteriorated. Yes, ‘tired again’ describes us quite well.
But then there’s another way to read the word. If you ‘re-tire’, you might also be putting new tires on your vehicle, becoming more ready to go adventuring, showing confidence in yourself and your car or truck. You don’t do it lightly, as it’s a major investment. You choose to do it after carefully looking at the situation and what lies ahead. You do it with confidence. Many seniors truly re-tire. They take the opportunity to do those things that are most important but have been neglected because of family and social obligations. Retirement for them are truly golden years. They can be a boon to each other and the whole world, if they choose for the common good.
Most Tuesday evenings find Judy and I at an Open Mic, held at a nearby Legion. It’s mainly seniors, coming to hear the music, dance and see each other. We’re a varied group in most ways, but what a collection of talent and experience, mostly going to waste. Our culture has put us out to pasture, hoping that we’ll not make waves and just be content and not cost too much before we die. Just imagine if we didn’t follow the norm. What if we chose not to be ‘tired again’. but to collectively get new tires and start to do things. If seniors started to actually join together, pooling their knowledge and resources, we could be the single biggest influencer on earth. Instead of being a drain on society, we could easily, with our numbers and wealth, dictate the future.
But it’s so easy to just look back on the Good Old Days, reminisce and leave the power to those who have much less knowledge and wisdom, and to then complain about them. When we do this, claiming our ‘tiredness’ as our right and privilege, we need to know that we are not just letting ourselves down, we are unnecessarily condemning our grandkids and the whole world to a very bleak future. We are needed. What we are and have is beyond measure and to remain ‘tired’ is a very bad choice. We can learn to share, to communicate and join together as some of us did in our younger days. We have experiences and knowledge that can make a huge difference. Let’s work together and put new tires on these old wheels of ours. They still work just fine.
Anthony, still learning how to drive.
