Reflecting
Today I turn 75 
It is 16 years since I was fired from a 20 year career which had gone from rewarding and exciting to being dominated by philosophical conflicts with the Chairman. I was fully aware of the inevitable outcome of that struggle, but still it was initially painful, it has turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me (I have to confess the golden parachute helped).
Instead of trying to bridge the gap between my age then (59) to retirement at 66, I blew right past that and find myself with 2 more years on my existing 5 year contract. I'm still a bit incredulous that anyone would offer me, at 72 years of age, a 5 year contract---but they did and I signed on--and became a principle in the company as a signing bonus.
As some of you "old friends" know, I used to look forward to retirement and spending far more time in Alaska---that seems now unlikely, but that is OK--life has it's own strange twists and turns and my life has been shaped and enriched by taking advantage of them.
I once worked for a man who ran his life on a series of 5 and 10 year plans. He encouraged me to do the same--I never did, and I am grateful. The lack of a definitive plan allowed me the freedom to take advantage of unexpected opportunities along the line---all of which enriched my career and my life.
I look forward to my 77th year---I wonder if they will go for 5 more
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
"Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." ---John W. Gardner
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ---C. S. Lewis
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...Ben
Retired April 17, 2019 
Originally Posted by Blue74
