As you're leaving Starbucks™ a researcher approaches you and
asks, "Would you describe your life as living-by-design or living-by-default?" The question takes you by surprise. Before you retired, there
wasn't much time, or much use, in thinking about this philosophical question. Mostly
you had to show up to work each day and get the job done—preferably by
yesterday!
But now that you're retired, the question of design or
default has everything to do with the satisfaction and happiness you experience
in this next stage of life. According to the MacMillan Dictionary, "if
something happens by default, it happens only because someone does not do
something else." Default is an automatic selection in the absence of a
choice made by the user (Merriam-Webster).
In retirement it's easy to get caught up in the web of
living by default. If we don't decide and commit to what we want, others will
choose for us—it's the default option. In my opinion, living by default is lazy
living. Lazy living is easy—easier than intentional living. And yet, happiness
comes from putting forth the effort to live by design.
How do you live by design? Start with being deliberate and
purposeful about how you invest your time. Decide what you really want in life.
Make a list of what matters most to you. Commit to something. Put yourself on
the hook. Be accountable to yourself. Think big. Your life depends on it.
In the end, it's your life. Don't be absent. Show up. Now is the time to
make deliberate choices. Default is not good enough.
"That's the bell I keep ringing, to live a bigger and broader life. The smaller your life gets, the smaller your mind gets." —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
Copyright 2016. Patrice Jenkins. All Rights Reserved.
