Everything Can Be Something, Something Can Be Everything

Yesterday's post struck a nerve with people, both in tremendously positive ways and profoundly negative ways. I expected as much, given how countercultural my perspective on retirement is. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend you check out YESTERDAY'S POST.

I concluded the piece with a snippy little comment, "That's what happens when we choose not to throw away all of our wisdom, experience, relationships, influence, skills, and knowledge. Or he could just keep tinkering in his garage and tending to his garden."

Ironically, I received a fun message from my friend Randy about this. Randy, a retired man himself, pointed out that one of his fellow retiree friends actually has a massive garden. He and his wife find great joy working the land, seeing the product of planting, watering, and caring for their crops. In fact, they yield so much produce from their garden that they give much of it away.

I couldn't love this more. And no, this doesn't contradict what I said yesterday. Randy wasn't intending for it to contradict me, either. Instead, Randy was joyfully pointing out an important concept. Nobody gets to define what "work that matters" is. For many, a garden is simply a garden. It's a way to pass the time; keep busy. For this couple, though, it's so much more. It provides the three key ingredients that define "work that matters": meaning, fulfillment, and impact. They find meaning in the work, sharing the experience together. They feel a sense of fulfillment seeing the fruits of their labor (pun intended). They create impact by giving generously. Everything can be something. Something can be everything. A garden could just be a garden, but to this couple, it's so much more.

This leads to another e-mail I received from my soon-to-be-retired friend, Dave. Like Randy, Dave is one of those people I respect so dang much. When either of these men talks, I listen. Dave recommended that I continue to define what "work that matters" is. More specifically, perhaps we need to define what it's not. "Work" doesn't just mean something we do in exchange for financial rewards. The gardening couple mentioned above works on their big, beautiful garden. That's still work. But to them, it's work that matters.

To many, including my friend Dave, volunteering is "work that matters." Volunteering, as the name implies, is unpaid. But if you've ever served an organization in a volunteer capacity, you know two things: 1) It's unpaid (duh!), and 2) it's work! I've volunteered for so many organizations, including a 10-year stretch as a high school youth group leader. It's work....hard work! But it's so, so rewarding. Work that matters!

Everything can be something. Something can be everything. Collectively, we need to continue bending our culture around retirement. Yeah, we can listen to the prevailing culture and selfishly pursue an inward-facing life of leisure. Alternatively, we can pursue work that matters. The beautiful part of that idea is that everything can be something, and something can be everything. The world is our oyster, waiting for us to find the most meaningful, fulfilling, and impactful work suited for us. Embrace the journey!

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