Why you should never retire

The day was set. The decision made. I started counting the days to the closing of my practice. I was smart enough to know that being free of all the responsibilities, irritations, angst and aggravations of a full practice would not disappear on the first of the selected month. I prepared myself to be available for at least another month; maybe three months at the most, to wind up my responsibilities. Little did I know!I had read all there was to read about retirement, going forward, keeping active, relevance and a sense of purpose. Loss of income was factually analyzed and by most calculations could be predicted. Short of return of investments; inflation, global recession and depression were unknown factors.Read: Staying busy was always the plan—even in retirementRelevance and leaving centre stage was I thought very simple.After all, I am a simple guy and can enjoy simple things like walking in the park or mall, exercising at the gym or shopping at Costco. I forgot these were just relief mechanisms from the rigours of the daily grind. When they become your sole purpose in life, not so good. There is stress in boredom.Moving forward there were hobbies: bridge, mah-jong, chess, educational classes. Keeping busy was the key. Lunch with the guys is always good. I set a goal of good health and a good quality of life. Regular exercise and a healthy diet and good spiritual and mental well-being. I could also do volunteer work for various charities, medical or otherwise. But then nothing matched the good I could do continuing practice in these days of an acute shortage of medical practitioners.These days the highlight of my day is driving my wife to the supermarket, going to the Dollar store, having coffee and a muffin at Timmy’s, and watching the world go by. The apex of my social life this holiday season was another funeral. Golf season is a few months away. Travel is wonderful, but it gets more taxing, strenuous and expensive with time. The planning and expectations are the best part. The actual effort of travel can be anti-climactic.Continuing work and being useful can have an anti-aging effect.You are energized; “the energy of necessity.” You are challenged, stimulated,—and defeated mentally all the time.Rather than having the early bird special with a steak dinner at 4.30 p.m. or sitting at Timmy's for coffee, continue working whilst you can, or as in my case, even get paid for it, even if, in my case, very poorly. The Japanese word for it is ikigai: “the reason you get up in the morning.”Dr. Bert Wing King is a semi-retired family physician in Toronto.

Why you should never retire

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