Work, Retirement and Time

My friend Robert Brancatelli always manages to come up with thoughtful comments in his blog entries. You can read all of his posts here. His latest. “The Rhythm of Me”, prompted my own thoughts on retirement and the rapid passage of time.

I’ve retired twice – once from my 30 years at FMC Corporation, and the second from my 15 years on the faculty and administration of Ursinus College,.

I had no idea when I left FMC how exhausted I was. It took me at least two months to recover from three decades of accumulated stress and international travel. I knew I was going to begin a second career doing something, but didn’t have the strength at that point to even think about it.

But things always seem to work out, and soon I was on campus at Ursinus. That turned out to be 15 rewarding years of working with students, other faculty and support staff. The nicest part was that all of our collective efforts were targeted toward increasing student achievement, rather than achieving share price goals or bonus targets.

So, after 45 years of employee-ship, I retired again and began my career as a writer – free to (supposedly) read extensively, ponder and then frame my thoughts while I typed on the computer, sipped coffee, and prepared to win a Pulitzer or National Book Award.

The awards have not yet materialized, but the first book did – “Welcome to College – Your Career Starts Now!”, a short book of advice to college students, who need to start planning for their career sooner rather than later. I’m proud of this book, it is still selling on Amazon, and I believe it has added value to those who have read it. 

That’s about where I find myself now, submitting commentary pieces here and there, posting to my own web site, and working on a nascent second book about personal reinvention over the course of a career.

It was necessary to set aside a fair amount of time to deal with the rigors of moving into a retirement community, which prompts this author’s note: for those of you planning to do the same, start emptying the house out now; you have no idea!

Finally, I am acutely aware of how fast time is passing. There are competing desires to relax and enjoy, versus produce and contribute. Happily, what I am doing right now can incorporate both.