SEPTEMBER 9, 2022
In our recent weekly remarks, we have been talking about our last two years with our Foundational Band of Brothers, along with a new calling of spreading the “Good News” and a different way of looking at and thinking about life, to those nearing or already in retirement. Again, I am not high on the word “Retirement” and hope than each of you can look at this word differently and not as an artificial finish line for your career or life in general. Even nearing “your golden years” (whatever that means) you should be grateful for all that you have been blessed with these many years. (See our Elevator Guy Daily 7) Many of us that have reached this point in our lives may not be prepared for the remainder of our earthly lives. It might stem from our upbringing to make sure we “have enough” to surviving to the end. But enough of what?
- Money?
- Experiences?
- Pleasure?
- Happiness?
- Meaning?
Money is only part of the equation of “retirement” and is useful only in terms of what you can do with it. Yes, it may allow you to have more experiences, bring you temporary joy and happiness, but does it really add to your meaning for living? Try making your life more about love as your meaning. This takes hard work but is SO rewarding. “Love is never wasted, for its value does not rest on reciprocity.” C. S. Lewis.
Mark Twain reminds us that; “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out WHY.” (That is why I like to share birthday greetings with all of you) Maybe you worked your entire life by seeking success, power, fame and fortune. Great! But did you find anything else along the way? (Let’s hope) Friedrich Nietzsche once quoted: “He who has a WHY to live for can bear almost any HOW.” Just what Viktor Frankl lived as he was stripped of all his earthly possessions in the infamous Auschwitz death camps during World War II. You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happened to you. Please take that to heart as most of us are blessed with way more than we might have expected in life.
Frankl reminds us that; “the primary human drive is not pleasure, (as Sigmund Freud maintained) but rather the discovery and pursuit of what the individual finds meaningful.” Frankl’s work (See his best selling book; “Man’s Search for Meaning”) continues to inspire us all to find significance ( And we all crave to be important) in the very act of living, in spite of all obstacles. There are forces beyond our control that can take away everything we possess except one thing: “Your Freedom to Choose how you will respond to the situation.” Frankl saw three possible sources for meaning; In WORK, (Doing something significant) In LOVE, (Caring for another person) and in COURAGE, (during difficult times)
Whatever circumstances life throws at you, don’t give up. Keep a positive attitude about life by “focusing outside yourself.” (One of the Pillars of the Navy Seals) Remember; “Life is not about you anyway.”
Elevator Guy
Quote for the Day; “For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.” Viktor Frankl