Never Retire: Traditional Retirement As A Countdown To Dying
A lot has happened over the last couple of days—
My wife and I had lunch with a Never Retire newsletter founding subscriber. Great guy.
We received some not-so-good news about my 90-year-old Dad. Also a great guy.
These two experiences connect and illustrate the larger point I’m constantly trying to get across about Never Retiring.
Traditional retirement can kill you. As a literal statement, that’s not hyperbole. As a figurative statement, it’s not that retiring traditionally literally kills you, but it resembles more the process of waiting to die than living your last years to their fullest.
The subscriber I had lunch with—(I don’t want to say his name to spread his personal life all over my little corner of Substack!)—embodies an attitude of living the second act of life ripe with possibilities.
In a minute, we’ll compare his experience to my father’s and how I see mine now and in the future.
But first (and this actually relates)—
This founding subscriber also threw a few dollars of support towards my forthcoming project—Friki de Bici (Bike Geek).
A Substack—and so much more—Friki de Bici is my attempt to illustrate and reflect the wonderful bike cultures worldwide while highlighting cool bikes, the people who ride them and the shops that sell them.
But it’s also about looking at my life as I turn 50 in July and taking a view opposite to the one many people have at this age. A view that says I’m too old to ride my bike around the city like crazy and take video of it—(or whatever it is that you would do if you didn’t consider yourself too old).
I hope you don’t consider yourself too old. No matter your age.
Surely, age matters but the sooner you realize that it doesn’t, the less it matters. That last sentence is purposely convoluted and confusing. So, let’s flesh it out after thanking everybody who has supported Friki de Bici so far.
In the next couple of weeks, we will launch the project—video setup is forming, website is building, my wife is creating the artwork, ideas are percolating and developing—so help us out at the link if you’re so inclined.