What if the definition of “retire” meant to simply put on new tires?

What if it meant to apply a new coat of paint? Look for a different perspective? Try a new hot sauce? Move across the ocean and give a go at breathing air from an alternate elevation?

When did “retire” take on the seriousness of a FED bank meeting scheduled to discuss tightening monetary policy? When did “retire” come to mean “either get it right or else”? Today, the word “retire” seems more like an insurance commercial, a doctor’s office visit, or a tax audit.

I want the old definition back. The one that reminds us to kick back a little, find a little spot on the beach, feel the breeze. It’s time to put some new tires on this adventure and take it back from the curmudgeons. They seem to think it’s a math formula. It’s not that at all…it’s about shifting into overdrive and catching a glimpse of a black rhino on the same day.

It’s all about perspective and life’s too short for it to be such serious business. It’s a stage of mindset not a stage of age. In the words of the great Costa Rican fisherman – “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos: I have a full and busy life, senor.”