A Really Good Place To Start

You Are Here

In my life since retirement I have found myself in a lot of highway rest areas.  And on some of my more ambitious days I have also found myself at a trail head for a hiking or walking trail.  A common object at both of these places is a map on which is marked a location on the map called 'You are here.”  On the map are shown possible roads or paths to take from that marked location. 

To plot a course of any kind a person must know where you will start from.  When a person retires he will find himself somewhere.  It may not be where he planned to be at retirement or it may be exactly where he thought he would be.

He may wish he could start retirement from somewhere else.  He would like to be in a different position financially, or living in a different locale, or in a different family situation, or, or, or......  But he is where he is.  He is at the "you are here" arrow on the retirement trail head map, so he must make the most of his retirement years starting from that point.

The Apostle Paul once said in a letter he wrote to some friends that he had learned to be content no matter what his circumstances were.  When he wrote that, his circumstances were not what he would have chosen for himself; but they were the circumstances he was in.  What he had learned is a hard thing to learn, and it can only be really learned by experiencing unpleasant circumstances.  But learning this concept and training ourselves in response to it is a really good start on the future whether in retirement or some other stage of life.  Our circumstances, good or not, are what they are. 

I am writing this during the holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas and pausing to think what I am thankful for.  Some of my thoughts are as follows:

• My circumstances include much to be thankful for.
• Being thankful whatever the circumstances makes being content much easier.
• Being content is a really good place to start in making the most of my retirement years.