Possible Definition of "Retirement":  To Retreat or Withdraw

It may be time to retreat!

I thought I would look in a dictionary for the definition of the word retire and I found the following possibilities having to do withdrawal or retreat: 

a)    retreat -- to march (a military force) away from the enemy;

b)    to withdraw from circulation or from the market

c)    to withdraw from usual use or service

At first thought, withdrawal or retreat did not seem like a positive move.  It sounded like a move backward.  But then I realized that in our lives it very well may be a positive move if it allows us to do something that we otherwise could not do.  It is not a disgrace to retreat if we are able to regroup and win other victories because of it.

Consider the following scenario.  Maybe there is something a person really feels called to do.  It is their passion.  But the day to day rat race they find themselves in is the enemy of their being able to pursue their passion.  Maybe it is time for them to retreat from that enemy so that they can regroup and pursue that passion.

Many people achieve great things in retirement after they have "retreated from the rat race."  In fact in retiring we may not be retreating from the rat race as much as we are retreating to our passion.