Have you ever seen what happens to a leg after it has been in a plaster cast for a while? The muscle becomes so weak that the muscle almost disappears after not being used for as little as two weeks. It’s the same with your brain. If you don’t use it, it will deteriorate quickly. Many of those who retire at 60 to 65 years old are in the comfortable position that they don’t face a real challenge in life anymore, like how to earn a living or having to prove themselves in the workplace. This comfort comes with a side effect, because those who stop working at 65 and fully retire in the sense of not extensively engaging in alternative activities report a sharp decline in cognitive skills over the next years. The question is how to use your full potential during the last quarter or even third of your life.
The whole idea of retirement is not only outdated, it is wrong in the first place. Many in their 40’s and 50’s are working towards retiring with good savings. If you are so focused on retirement for such a long time it indicates that you are not really enjoying what you are doing now. Not every day at the workplace can be full of bliss, but if you learn to endure an unwanted situation for so long you will no longer know what your real needs are and how to realise them. If you educate your brain over many years not to pay attention to your current needs, how would you all of a sudden be able to do so after retirement? If you spend years building a ship and fantasising about the great freedom out at sea, you may find that you eventually lost the courage to set sail once the ship is ready, not to mentions your sailing skills.
So retirement is often an illusion, because it does not materialise into the freedom and happiness one imagined before. It is dangerous because if you avoid any real challenge and it will lead to a rapid decline in your mental ability for the rest of your life.
- The reader is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
