Retirement Is to fear or look forward to ?
Ian Ferguson ( Editor of the NARF News )
I retired from the Fire Service in 2008 at the age of 52 ( well , just before my 53rd birthday actually ) after having completed just over 34 years of operational service , all of them spent at the sharp end ‘ on the pumps ’. I ended up as a watch manager in charge of two Full time appliances and a watch of eleven personnel . I have to say I enjoyed every minute of my time in the Fire Brigade , the work was interesting , exciting and unpredictable . You never knew where you were going to be and what you were going to be doing from one shift to another . One minute you might be sitting in the mess room having a cup of tea and the next the alarms sounded and you were on your way to an incident . It was a fantastic job and I considered myself very lucky to have found a job that I absolutely loved ( Not many people can say that ), but I never got up in the morning with the dread of having to go to work . Like everything though , it wasn ’ t perfect and it did have its downside and over the years I was called upon to have to do some awful things . My worst incident was attending an accident where two of my Fire fighter colleagues were killed when their appliance overturned en route to an incident and I was part of one of the crews that were sent to release them from the wreckage , a terrible thing to have to deal with and also to have to come to terms with .
But , all of this is leading to the point of my article , what happens when you eventually retire ? Is it something that you should look forward to with fear and apprehension or should it be welcomed as something you ’ ve earned ? I think it all depends on the mindset of the individual who is retiring , whether you ’ re a half full or half empty type , as to which one of those definitions are adopted , If you ’ re a person with a positive disposition , you will look on retirement as a new chapter in your life that is opening . If the person has a negative train of thought , you will probably think along the lines of your life is over and it ’ s just a question of waiting for God !
My mindset was a positive one , I felt that after 34 years in the Fire Brigade , I ’ d done my bit and earned my pension . I have lots of things to keep me busy and I am never bored . There is so much out there for people to become involved with , that there is absolutely no excuse for being bored .
In my case , I live on the edge of a Nature reserve and I am voluntary Warden for Natural England . I edit the National Association of Retired Firefighters magazine NARF News , which is interesting and keeps me busy and I also run the Durham branch of NARF . I am a Magistrate , which again is incredibly interesting and I also have a little part time job delivering prescriptions a couple of days a week for a local pharmacy , which gives me a little extra income to help pay for holidays etc . and finally , I am really interested in music and I play the saxophone , which I find is a great stress release and if I ’ ve had a bad day , I can get one of my saxophones out and just blow my troubles away .
I ’ m of the school that only boring people are bored and as I said earlier , there ’ s so much to do out there that no one should ever be stuck for an interest .
My mother is 86 next birthday , she still drives , uses a laptop to e mail members of the family who live abroad , she goes out to quizzes and dances , she sings in a choir , is involved with local history groups and has joined the U3A ( University of the third age ) which gets members involved in all kinds of interesting activities from country walks to talks and lectures on a vast array of subjects and again , she is never bored . I guess I must be a chip off the old block in that respect !
So just because you retire , it doesn ’ t mean that it ’ s the end of the world or the end of your life , there are so many charitable organisations out there that would welcome you with open arms if you are interested in helping them in some way , because time is the greatest gift that anyone can give to anyone or anything , it ’ s priceless , so don ’ t waste it , get involved with something . Don ’ t let the armchair get you and remember positive actions never came from negative thoughts , think positive and you ’ ll act positive . Now get out there and do it !
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