Time to retire? Absolutely, said some. Never, said others. After a year of research, I had my answer, and it came down to a simple question: Is my life better, no matter where I go, when I am at my best or at my worst?
My point came up a lot during my research. There were a lot of people who said, “If you live life at 100 percent, you live life at the edge, and you live life at no value.” I think I was always like that, but I did have a hard time hearing those sentiments. I have never been in a rush, and I have not spent most of my life on cruise ships, with long hours, late nights, late mornings, and so on. I don’t get paid to live life at 100 percent. I don’t get paid to live life at the edge. The thing that bothers me the most was hearing that a lot of people I talked to said when they were in their best years, all they wanted to do was live life at the edge, while living life at the value was only when they were at the value. They lived at the value when they were at their peak, and they had no intention of stopping or starting when they were at their peak.
When that time came for me to retire, I didn’t have that exact question. That is why I decided to interview several people and ask each one what exactly drove them to retire. There was no exact time that they said, “At my peak I live life at the edge.” There were plenty of moments when they said, “I don’t care when I am going, so long as at least I am going.” Or “I don’t care where I am going and as long as I am going there.” Some had more of a life philosophy that was different than others. They had certain philosophies that motivated them to retire, and some had no philosophy at all. But all had to have
