After a man (or woman) reaches Medicare age and has plowed the field and sowed the seed of economic success for decades, is it not time to reap the benefits of this labor and leave the pulling of the cart to others? Sometimes the dominant inclination is to move the finish line and try to hold on to youth by more of those things that defined that age...building a business, generating earned income, competing with others in the marketplace. As if there were nothing else.
It may be among the most socially responsible things we do to transfer work to those in the next generation so that they can experience the joys of achievement and the benefits of success. Our social structure of Social Security, and Medicare supports that concept. We could take a lesson from biology. Every animal reaches a point in his/her life when procreation and survival of the species is no longer the prime directive. Menopause comes to mind. Even the ducks sitting at the side of my pool, who had litters of 10 ducklings in years past, now sit side by side in the sun, jumping into the water from time to time to preen and get a drink of fresh water. There are no more duckings, yet these adults come back every year.
Now is the time to play with grandchildren, take long walks, sit in the sun at the side of the pool, and share a little wisdom when asked.
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