Over a quarter of a century ago, the Individual Retirement Account was
introduced as a way of investing to add financial security to our elder years.
Now you wouldn't be without one. Yet is financial security the only thing we
want to insure in our retirement days? Just as important is what I cal the SRA,
your Spiritual Retirement Account.
Shortly after my retirement, I Was browsing the magazine section of the local
public library. The cover of Fortune Magazine almost leaped off the shelf. In
bold letters it read "How I Flunked Retirement, By Lee Ioacocca." It
seems that Lee had left Chrysler with no plan in mind. Money was no issue. He
had plenty. Plus he was making $20,000 for an after dinner speech. Housing was
not an issue: he had a home in Palm Springs, a condo in New York City and a
place on the French Riviera. However, his third marriage had just dissolved, he
didn't like travel, and he had little sense of meaning in life. He wrote:
You can plan everything in life, and then the roof caves in on you because you
haven't done enough thinking about who you are and what you are and what you
should do with the rest of your life.
Ioacocca had just made the case for a Spiritual Retirement Account. It is
essential to think about who you are, and what you are, and what you are going
to do with the rest of your life. Does this sound strangely familiar? It is what
Rabbi Zalman calls "Doing Your Philosophical Homework."
Don't let the word "Homework" throw you back into the resistance of
your school years. This is exciting work. We can call it "Spirit
Work," identifying our passion and living from soul rather than from the
"shoulds" that have dominated much of our lives. Ask yourself
questions that you have felt too busy to consider:
-What have I laid aside in my life as impossible to impractical that I might
want to resurrect?
-What contribution do I want to make to family, community, nation or the planet?
-How can I simplify my life to give more time to my spirit quest?
Just as the earlier you invest in your IRA, the more payoff in later years, so
it is with one's Spiritual Retirement Account. It is never too early to begin.
But in midlife, as Jung points out, our minds turn more toward the spiritual. If
we do not resist but identify the spiritual questions and live with them, our
spirit will grow in width and depth and we will have a spirit account to enrich
our elder years.
Unlike and IRA, we can keep contributing to our SRA throughout our lives. The
sooner we begin and the more we contribute, the more there will be to sustain us
in times of crisis and to enrich our elder years. Most of us will spend as many
years in our retirement as we did in our active work life. What an opportunity
we have to nurture our mind, body, and spirit in ways that will make our
retirement years full of passion and joy.
