Work vs Retirement

Lately, I kept hearing people want to retire. All talks about retirement. Retire early, retire young. Or just simply retired. I asked some of them. Most of them said that they want to retire so they don't have to go to work. So they can have freedom for what they want to do in their free time. So they no longer work the work they hate. 

Isn't that the right reason to retire though?

To retire because they hate working? To retire so they can do whatever they want? To retire so they can go vacation all the time, sit at home and binge watch Netflix and Hulu all day? To go shopping all day in the mall? To dine in restaurants every night and don't have to cook?

One of my friend asked me just few days ago, when I want to retire? And I ask myself the same question. When do I want to retire? When my asset is at certain number? When my age at certain number?

Since I love working, I told her, I probably would never retire!

Even after my official retirement at 65 (maybe, we'll see), I would like to find a part time work somewhere so I can still be active and be involved in social activities. I can volunteer that's true, but it's no fun to volunteer all the time. It's no fun to play golf all the time. It's no fun to dine lobster every night. At some point, it'll be more challenging to have real hurdle in life. And looks like work is the hurdle of being free.

So now I come to this thinking. We should not want to retire because we hate our work. If that's the case, we should find the work we love. The field we can thrive. And if we can't find the work we love, then love the work we have. Love what we have. Many people would want to trade in our shoes to have the job we currently have right now!

I changed my mindset. Instead of hating work, I am loving work now. I feel accomplished. I feel fulfilled with working hard with my hands, my brain, and my everything. I feel contributing. And because of that, I feel content and happy with life.

You know what they say, find the job you love and you'll never work for the rest of your live. That is so very true! I feel amazing every time I go to work. I get to dressed up, put my make up on, put my best face forward, and drive to the office I love. Then I get to meet the co-workers and boss I love working with. I said love, not like. So there will be days that you just want to strangle them, but in the end of the day you still love them. Then when the bank open (I work in a bank), I get to meet the customers, and I love all of them!!!

I think that throughout my 20 years experience in the workforce, I always love my job and the companies I work for, including all the people I associated with. Each of them are unique and different. And I know this is not forever. Meaning at certain point in my life, I will stop working with them and move on to my next stage in life.

I learn the key of happiness is not to wait for the next chapter in our life to appear. Not to wait until we finish working and then be happy. Most of us work from 9 to 5, and the entrepreneurs even work 24/7, so if you wait to be happy after you finish your work, then practically you never will be happy! You spend a third of your waking hours at workplace, that is a big chunk of your day! 33%! So why don't we aim to be happy now that we are still fit enough to work, still have energy to produce, and to contribute to our society?

I'm not going to wait for my retirement days to be happy. I am happy now during my working days. I am content and happy. Whether it's work or retirement, I'll be happy nonetheless.

Well one thing for sure. While you're working, keep working on your retirement funds! You will need it one day. :)