Reason 87: (Re) Tired

100 Reasons I'm Retiring

I say it, or at least think it, multiple times a day: I’m tired. I realize that at 70, my body is sending a clear message to my brain that it is time to slow down. But, in all honesty, it’s more than just a physical tiredness. The years of caregiving, of working to support a family and pay for college tuition and medical expenses, of taking on too many roles for too many people have worn me out.

I’m, as my grandmother would say, “Plum tuckered out.”

The good news is that, with a few days or weeks of rest, I’m pretty sure I can bounce back. A recent four-day weekend had me bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I’ve just never really had a chance to recover from what two decades of spousal caregiving demanded of me.

Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines retire as : “to withdraw from action or danger; to withdraw from one’s occupation; to seek privacy.” Retirement was unknown before the 19th Century; most people just worked until they died. Along the way, retirement became synonymous with old age. The word has both positive and negative connotations.

I like to think of it in terms of a Penn State professor who likens “re-tiring” to changing the tires on a bicycle; the bike is still good, it just needs a little revamping (PSU.EDU). Jim Gambone, a Minnesota intergenerational specialist (Yeah, I don’t know what that is, either) suggested that we change the word “retirement” to “Refirement.” “Productive aging” is a new buzz-term on the street meant to assure aging Americans that we will still have a meaningful place in society.

And, honestly, I’m all for that. I’m with Gambone on “living well into my third age”. Just don’t ask me to get up before 7AM because, honey, I need my rest.

Gambone and others say that the longevity of Americans is one of the greatest outcomes of the 20th Century. Others say an older population will be the downfall of society. What contributions do you want to continue to make as you age?