Retirement

I met a guy at a pool party yesterday who is two years older than me and already retired. He said he purchased some stocks at the right time following a friend’s advice and now has enough to live off of for, I suppose, the rest of his life. Other than that, he worked as a manager in the heating and air conditioning sector. I was just thinking that that is not the legacy I want for myself. I think it’s great that people like that exist in this world, and I think if you can find enjoyment out of all that free time, then good for you. However, that’s not the path that I want to take. I’m striving for something more serious and intellectually stimulating, which is the whole point of becoming a doctor. 

I think about periods of my life when I am most unhappy, and often those are during times when I have nothing to do. During those holiday breaks when I have all the time in the world to dictate my own schedule, I am, all of a sudden, at a loss and cannot ascribe any meaning to my life. I think work is an interesting thing in that sense. If done correctly, work can be a source of joy and meaning in one’s life. They say don’t let work define who you are as a person, but why not? Why not let the right job give you some meaning and purpose, making you, overall, a better person? I think, in some sense, this runs contrary to many people’s views on work, but I’ve never been one to be on the same page as the masses. 

I also think about the vision I want for my career, and it’s really grounded in the premise of quality. My educational path has spanned almost a decade, with medical school and then graduate school, and I’m trying to turn that into an exact decade in architecture school. Many would say that something of that sort is a little excessive, but I don’t consider myself to be average, nor do I aspire to be average by any means. If I do go into architecture, I want to be the best, and to be the best, one has to do things that others are not willing to do. Otherwise, how can one ever stand out?