A Reader Responds to “Retirement May Be Hazardous to Your Health”

To the Editor:

In my opinion, the issue of retirement is often a case of “the grass being greener on the other side.” When we are very busy with our profession, at least once a day, all of us think of the day when we could retire, relax, and do all of those things that we are not able to do right now due to a lack of time and due to our commitments. Retirement, pursuing our hobbies, spending time with family, taking up a just cause – all of these seem very alluring.

Once we are retired, within a few months the novelty of all of these things loses its sheen and we start to feel useless and purposeless. For any human being, having a purpose in life – something that gives us an identity, self-respect, pleasure, a chance to help others, and recognition in our community – is very important for survival. On retiring, very soon many people feel unwanted, for their friends and family have an agenda of their own.

Being a workaholic or being completely retired (the two extreme ends of a spectrum) are both imbalanced. And when something is imbalanced, it is bound to make you restless and unhappy. The best thing to do is to achieve some balance in your day-to-day life, even when you are young. Then, there is no question of boredom, fatigue, and daily dreams of retiring. It's only when one devotes too much time to one's profession that one starts craving to be at the other end of the spectrum, for life always seeks balance. Working very hard with no spare time, and retiring and having too much time, are both equally bad. It is my opinion that as doctors we should try and balance our lives so that the question of retirement becomes superfluous.[1]