Are you thinking of logging off soon, hanging up that damn phone and following the arrows marked exit that leads to the side door, where will you be going then? When you are standing there at the threshold of this adventurous departure, are you still able to cry, to love and behave passionately about these experiences you’ve been imagining your going to live, will this landing place still echo your dreams or will it be filled with inertia?
Relationships are essential to our human existence, but the skills we need to deepen our intimacy with others and continue evolving those partnerships are average at best. Strangely, our basic and perhaps first urge is to want to silence opponents rather than engage in adult conversation, sensible dialogue and/or debate. We could be totally unaware that we are closing down precious opportunities that can lift us out of our long sleep. The reverse is to remain separate and secure on our tiny island of individuality with only one coconut tree left standing.
Many that are facing retirement and seeking renewal, a change in lifestyle, will have as their beacon a family figure, a parent, uncle or work college that’s already taken that huge first step. You may be ready to dip into your savings to begin those long-delayed plans and that’s great but buyer beware, what’s gone before may not be the path to your best future.
“Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure“
Rumi
The tug-of-war going on between the superpowers China and the USA is unfortunate and, for many of us watching from the sidelines becoming an increasingly fearful situation, this pushing and shoving is leading us towards difficult choices. Most naturalists will know when you grab a stick and unnecessarily annoy a hive of hornets, that pain will surely follow. If antagonism and division is our only path forward then aware folks will already know the outcome of insanity.
Main shot – Toa Heftiba – above Kelly Sikkema – Unsplash
Our own satisfaction in retirement depends on the social and economic conditions that surround us, we are reliant on the many for the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the houses we dwell in. We benefit from the information and knowledge we gain through the hard work of our human ancestors who have all come before us. We have not and will never stand alone on this planet.
Any State that believes it can ensure its own security separate from the rest of the world is telling you a lie. This is a false security for it can never be at the expense of others. If security is paramount to our individual or nation’s future then why is yet another war looming over our back fence? It takes two to tango. Perhaps this is just another lie from the powerful, from the hidden truth machine that never sleeps.
We are all part of this historic crossroads and what matters most is that we are also working towards building a better world, not just for ourselves but for all of us. The emerging propaganda apparatus that’s infiltrating all aspects of our media and politic is powerful stuff and if you don’t know yourself well enough, i.e. able to be your own witness, then before you know it, someone else’s thoughts will become yours. It’s easy to want more stuff, to fulfil yet another urge, but greedy business people understand this is how to puff people up and when trying to look more like a peacock, we will think we are something that we are not. It’s a charade because the moment a small challenge comes along our protective wall is pulled down and we are no longer sure of who we are.
Let’s face it, your retirement plans will never be the same as your grandfather’s or grandmother’s, that’s gone forever. Taking sides never works either and the divide-and-conquer story is an age-old ploy that we conveniently forget. We really need to be alert and mindful for how our age-old traditions, culture and stories are being used against us, it’s a convenient lie that is hard to spot, that is, until you start really looking.
