By the time I turned 40, 3 years ago, I was overcome with the hopelessness of my prospects. I was so beat, I found it tough to keep my head above water. Finally, I decided to carry on till I was 50 and then call it quits(work wise). I started the count down and recorded sporadically for 3 years about the journey. Well, it didn't work out too well.
When I landed the job in Abu Dhabi, I thought of it as home run. If I could plough through another 8 years, I would not need to work another day. But it was not to be. With my layoff, that sprint was over. In the end it was not about fairness or politics. It was about survival. And in all this there was an important lesson for me. I may not want or even need to work beyond 50, but living without some form of work is equally if not more frustrating. For the last 4 months I've lived this thought every day. I've dissected it, turned it around, tumbled and rolled with it. I can't seem to find an alternative to work. Work's part of keeping my sanity.
And then there is my dad. At 74 with no liabilities and a pension beating a King's ransom, he does not need to work for money for even a minute. His work place is no picnic. With the age challenges and constant insinuations and daily indignities he still gets up every day, does everything from fetching water to cooking the meals and then gets dressed and shows up for work. It's one of the God's graces, that a man has work and he clocks in everyday, day after day. A Man's Dharma...
So, stop whining! Get out there and get the work done. It's one thing I do better than most. So do it and let age be just a number. Get up, get out there and keep moving forward...
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