Other Tides
It feels strange to write a spirituality article about retirement and aging. Especially since, regardless of my chronological age or state of health, I am always on the job. There are no down times. No times to walk out into the middle of the strawberry patch, pick a few berries and start munching away, that is down time. That is not time off. I am always at work. Especially when no one appears to notice.
Yes, I retired from decades in the business world. It was a distinct honor and privilege not only to work in multinationals and other corporations, but also nonprofits and not-for-profit organizations. The differences in how people think and operate in nonprofits and not-for-profits is usually entirely opposite of what is done in regular corporate life. It takes more mental flexibility than I guessed to successfully hold jobs across such a wide range of businesses.
The opportunity to be employed across such a diverse and unusual grouping widened my perspective of spirituality in action. As opposed to spiritual inaction.
No matter what the setting, some among us will always be in whatever part of the business world necessary to profit themselves. Money and power are essential for them. People also want to look good. If they don’t think highly of themselves, if they puff up themselves and act as if they are more than they are, they need or want to hear other people praise them in order to make them feel good about themselves.
In a nutshell, that is a basic course in self-pity. Shall we refer to it as self-pity 101?
I have no clue as to how this part of spirituality work. I do know that the older my body gets, the younger I feel. Under no conditions would I ever want to go back to being twenty-one again. Not even thirty-one or forty-one. Like a lot of other people as we grow older, it wouldn’t upset me too terribly to have the body of a twenty-five year old. On the condition that I wouldn’t have to be twenty-five.
Once was enough, thank you very much.
There is a physical and mental freedom that came as I’ve aged. Even while I was working. I agree with those who say that we’re no longer chasing after dreams. We’ve reached the age where either we have accomplished our dreams or not.
God threw so many surprises at me — some of them challenges and some of them better than a child’s surprise birthday party — that I never quite knew what was going to happen next. Typically, whatever I thought was or ought to happen did not.
Life gave me even better presents than I might ever have predicted.
Along the way there has been learning to say yes.
Learning to say yes to the Creator, in spite of my determination to have everything in life my own way, has given me stunning results. The tides of life have shifted.
It took widening my heart and soul. Allowing myself to be overtaken by the simplicities of life. By everyday kindnesses. To have the courage to mimic the good I saw done by others.
That was when the dark tides of sadness, of feeling the constant loss of goodness and joy in my life, flowed out. In came actual goodness and joy. In came a desire to live in new and unexpected ways.
It has been a source of constant surprise and happiness to uncover all the good now flowing into my life and those of the people around me.
All of us can ride new tides. Opening our hearts and souls to inrushing goodness is all it takes.
