If you, like most Journal readers, have been a career-long caregiver you have lived numerous exhausting days. Nothing seems more appealing than to finally sit back and relax.
Why not? You have earned it.
Just make sure "relaxing" does not kill you. Food, exercise & meaningful goals matter even more to the aging. What does a retired white guy look like? Seek a picture, I Googled "retired man." Uh huh.
A lifelong characteristic has made "relaxing" impossible for me. I am wildly and widely interested in everything. At least what seems meaningful. Which is almost everything.
My cousin, Terry, seems to share that view. Theoretically, both of us are "retired." That word can be dangerous if it signals, as it does to too many, not just relaxing but almost giving up on life. I stopped using the word when I noticed how rapidly people marginalize not just old people but anyone who is "no longer working."
This sense of marginalization can, itself, cause illness if we let it. Anyone who thinks they do not matter becomes vulnerable to depression and its potential sequelae: alcohol, over-eating and drug abuse.
Perceived disdain from others can weaken self esteem and accelerate dependence. Simultaneously, incessant curiosity has its own risks, e.g. difficulty relaxing and driving others nuts with too many questions.
All of this is meant to inspire, not to judge. Why not live ever minute until our last?
Michelangelo's last words were, "I am still learning." Perhaps, that was the heart of his genius.
-Erie Chapman
