Life itself

I have a friend who is 67 years old and recently retired after a 40 year career.

I was excited for him and he more than deserves his retirement time. Being that I’m just starting out in my career I asked him for advise and how retirement has been for him.

He told me that although he’s retired, he still has side projects and clients that he consults with. He said now that he’s not working full time, between the projects he works on and the things he does on his off time are now combined into one.

I thought to myself that as a 22 year old starting out in the work force, I can live the same way without being retired.

We only have one life and we spend a lot of it working. But just because we are working doesn’t mean that it’s another segment of life, it’s just as part of your life as any other hours you spend not at work.

Over the next several decades, I want to approach my work with a sense of mindfulness that all 24 hours of my life are exactly one thing: Life itself.