A wisdom walk with a fifth grader
It’s July 31. We finish dinner and I say,
“Max, let’s get your sister in the stroller and go for a walk around the neighbour.”
“Sure thing Bump."
As we’re passing the school where Max will be going into grade 5, I say,
“It’s hard to believe the summer is half over.”
Max quickly responds,
“I know. I can’t believe how fast it’s going. All the days seem to mix together. I don’t even know what day it is."
He pauses and sighs,
“I can’t wait to retire !”
I catch my laughter. “Retire ? We gotta talk buddy."
I’m not sure where his thinking is coming from but his career to date has consisted of cleaning a grand total of 4 cars. This is a teachable moment for sure—not just for Max but for all of us.
I’ll spare you the details and leave you with the nuggets of our conversation:
work is good. It’s not a bad word. As humans we’re here to work and contribute to the world.
take learning seriously and never stop growing
find something you love to do and put it of service to the world. Life is short and you spend a lot of time at work so you should really enjoy what you do
don’t wish your life away—it’s going to go fast enough
Max looks up at me, and thoughtfully shares,
"I guess I’ll retire when I’m done being awesome."
Who could argue with that ?
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