By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
Do you give yourself enough credit? Most of us don’t. If we did we would feel so much more fulfilled. It would give us a purpose. If you struggle with feeling a sense of purpose, consider inspiring someone else. The saying goes that it’s better to give than to receive. This certainly is true in my life.
No matter what our age, each of us is on this earth to make a difference, until we take our last breathe. Retirement does not mean that we stop in our tracks, go out to pasture and graze off the land, contributing nothing more to this world. Don’t mistake retirement for stopping.
I am here to remind you that your best days are ahead of you. Do you believe that? If you have a hard time believing that, let me offer three different ways that you can “ReFire” and revitalize your days, weeks, months and years into joy for the rest of your life.
- List what you are grateful for. Your list may be long and easy to make. Your list may be short because you’re going through a rough time, right now. If you’re feeling low, put things into perspective and remind yourself of the little things, like having a roof over your head, food to eat and clothes to keep you warm.
- Make a list of family and friends that you want to see more of. Life can be hectic and as the days go on, we forget to make that call or write that letter that we “keep meaning” to do. Think about the joy that call or letter would bring and make the time. You will lift up the day of that person and experience the unmeasurable warmth in your heart for the little effort it took.
- List three ways that you can bear fruit. In the book of Proverbs it states, “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. This endeavor will ignite your ReFirement!
I’m going to share an amazing quote that I found from Board of Wisdom that also puts life into perspective:
Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course! Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to a good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against “tomorrow”. You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success! The clock is running!! Make the most of today. To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade. To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask the person who just missed a train. To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask someone who just avoided an accident. To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal at the Olympics. Treasure every moment that you have! Treasure it more because you shared it with some special, special enough to spend your time with. Remember, time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.
I repeat this often, whether I’m giving a speech or in a quiet moment at home. I can’t imagine anyone that this wouldn’t resonate with.
We are meant to be productive our whole lives, not just until we retire. This is the meaning of ReFirement! It’s a time to switch gears and understand our passion. What is that one thing that would inspire you to inspire others?
Find your inspiration and pay it forward. As we enter the season of Thanksgiving and gratefulness, this is the perfect time to embrace your purpose.
I would love to hear back from you!
