Retirement: Planning A Well Executed Landing

The safe landing of any aircraft is a major accomplishment.

 Someone has observed that the landing of a plane is really a form of a controlled crash. A complex multi-ton aircraft is being allowed to ever so carefully let gravity ease it onto a runway, where reverse engine thrust and the plane's brakes finally bring it safely to a halt.

That has become for me a kind of metaphor for the change of pace and place we call retirement, a time for slowing down and preparing for our next and final flight.

Not surprisingly this transition isn't easy, and may come with some anxiety about the unknown. 

So how do we determine when and how to decelerate, circle the runway and touch down for what we hope will be a soft and safe landing?

Here are some of my own reflections:

1. I want to continue to be as productive as time and health permit, gradually decreasing my working hours rather than quitting everything all at once. I want to do this wisely, and know when to let go and to let others carry on and take over.

2. I want to remain active in my congregation and in other organizations that are doing good in the community. I hope that to "retire" may even become an opportunity to "retread" and to extend my usefulness.

3. I want to spend more quality time with others, deepening my relationships with existing friends, making some new ones, and enjoying more time with my wife, children, grandchildren and others in my circle of loved ones. 

4,  I want to be intentional about making amends wherever needed, to work at restoring any past relationships in need of repair.

5. I want to continue to downsize and simplify life by selling or giving away the unneeded accumulation of things our heirs will otherwise have to sort through and dispose of. 

6. I want to continue my education by reading good books I haven't found time for in the past, and by attending workshops, seminars and interest groups I can learn from and contribute to.

7. I want to prepare to die well, and to do some of the planning for my funeral and burial that will make it easier for those I leave behind.

8. I want to get adequate exercise, plenty of fresh air and good rest and otherwise take good care of my body for as long as it lasts.

May we all be remembered as having loved, lived and landed well.