Retiring at 47How good is togetherness? |
HOW GOOD IS 'TOGETHERNESS?' Togetherness may not be for everyone. We are all familiar with complaints from wives who suddenly find dad under foot: "He was driving me absolutely stark raving mad," one woman said. It should not be overlooked that too much togetherness can be a serious burden on the marriage of retirees. After spending 70% of their time apart during the working years, now couples are spending over 80% of it together. Couples should enjoy doing things together and separately. They need separate spaces. Indeed, one informal survey of Sun City residents found "too much time together" ranked fourth behind "absence of work excitement," "being away from friends" and "too much time" (translation: dead time) as retirees' biggest headaches. If one is likely to live until 80 or 90, it is exceedingly important to have a great deal of unfinished work on hand to make it worth getting up in the morning. THE PARENT TRAP If retirement thrusts wives and husbands too close together, often forcing a domestic confrontation, it can also foster an undue dependence on the children for emotional support. Why do so many parents of grown children seem less willing than their forebears tolet go? It is one thing always to love one's children: quite another never to let them grow up. and in failing to let them take a risk by being responsible for their own lives, we cheat ourselves by never laying our love on the line. So long as they owe us something, we feel we deserve their allegiance. The only real way for us to know if we have done a good job as parents is to snip those financial ties and see if our children still love us - only this time for all the right reasons. There are other, more tangible rewards if we manage to extricate ourselves from undue involvement in our children's finances. once they are on their own,we can concentrate on making our lives more productive, enjoyable and rewarding - and in the end this can only benefit our children. Retirement. The word by its very nature implies letting go, dropping out, giving up. CHANGE: Each of us risks being overwhelmed by the sudden, sweeping technological and social changes of the final third of the 20 th century. The standard response, however, particularly among older people, is to deny change. Understandably, an individual tends to feel safe and secure in familiar surroundings, doing familiar things with familiar people. But the inevitable result is mental stagnation. The hunger for knowledge does not abate with age. in fact, "the more we know, the more we know we don't know" - and the more we want to learn. When we get there we will all want - and deserve - more than a gold watch, a farewell banquet and a handshake. We all fear, particularly if we have worked many years for the same company, what will become of us. We do not want to join the walking dead. So wrenching is the experience of retirement that Dr.Thomas Holmes, professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington ranked it as ninth (out of 43) most stressful event in one's life (behind the death of a spouse, divorce, separation,a jail term, the death of a close family member, personal injury or illness, marriage and being fired). Work supplies a lot of basic psychological needs that suddenly are cutoff when a person retires. As a worker, you have a sense of belonging to the producing part of the society. Work helps to give you an identity. It is a source of human contact. It defines your goals and gives you a sense of accomplishment and affirmation. RETIREMENT IS DESTRUCTIVE ... OR, ISIT? Why has retirement in its traditional form been so destructive? Work, it appears, is good for us psychologically and physically. It helps to keep us alert and healthy. Work also defines what we are capable of doing and provides a structure for the way in which we will spend our day. Retirement of the total-withdrawal variety often removes the sourceof identity, self-worth, competence and time structure. Depression is frequently the result, followed by the predictable onset of major illness. Worry can cause high blood pressure, strokes, heartdiseases, ulcers and may even be at the root of some cancers. Boredom, stagnation and dissatisfaction can also spur or aggravate a wide range of problems, from asthma to migraines and kidney diseases. Many have been told by their bosses, their younger coworkers, their neighbors and their children that the game of life is over. They feel worthless, shoved aside, and they get the big hint society has been giving them: go home and die. The ones who buy the old idea that retirement means dropping out often do that - they succumb to all these ailments and diseases. More and more people who saw retirement as some sort of panacea now realize they have been sold a bill of goods. A life full of golf carts and golden-age cruises may appeal to some, but increasingly, we hear the voices of men and women who want more. PLANNING Ideally, we should give ourselves as much time as possible to come to terms with reality and start planning for our retirement. But most of us do no constructive planning because we are so overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty. The single most important decision you will make is what you will do with the rest of your life, with your talents, your abilities. It helps to lay the groundwork as early as possible. I began planning early for things that I would want to do when I would have to retire. Life-style planning: how to figure out the right balance between work and leisure. How to decide how and where to live. PHASED RETIREMENT Rehearsal Retirement: ... and 'phased retirement'. If an employee is thinking of retiring from the company to pursue other interests but wants to test the water first, he or she is given an unpaid leave of absence. At the end of the leave (the average duration is three months) an employee can either retire or return to his or her old job .... Conquer your fear of the future. It is a known fact that most people approaching retirement postpone personal decisions-making and planning until the last possible moment. Often this reluctance stems from the understandable fear that once we begin thinking about our post-retirement lives, we somehow jeopardize the job we are in. So delay becomes denial. "What are you planning to do when the company retires you?" we asked scores of working men and women. The standard answer: Oh, there are plenty of things I can do." Translation: "I'm too damn scared to even think about it, much less plan it." If retirement is not planned, if no new goals are set, the Playboy life-style many people envision soon becomes monotonous, leaving them with a beer in one hand on the poop deck, bobbing like a cork in the bay. But when retirement is used as a channel to possibilities never attempted when there was no time, then there is every reason for refreshment. Risk? Of course, there is always risk involved in starting out again, in trying something new. But there is far more risk in letting events overtake you. And if you are to get a handle on your post-retirement plans, why not make it sooner rather than later. For millions of men and women who have mortgaged their independence for the stability that comes with working for a large corporation, making it on one's own may often seem an unattainable dream. and lulled into a false sense of security, the corporate employee is often ill-prepared for life outside the company womb. The shock is that much greater if , in his fifties or sixties, he is fired or forced into unwanted early retirement. The resulting sense of betrayal does little to bolster confidence; having been abandoned by his employer after years of faithful service, he is not about to ante up what little self-esteem he has left on a wager that he can make something of his future. FOR EXECUTIVES The prospect of stepping down is an unsettling one. The pension may be 100% of salary but even for a CEO, it isn't easy to face retirement. No more aides to do the legwork, no company limo waiting at the airport, no more secretaries to take calls, no more lavish office suite. But more important than the loss of perks is the loss of power, the knowledge that all eyes are on you when you enter a meeting, that your every word is being heeded. There comes a time around 45 - maybe fifty, tops - that you realize the path to the Number One spot is blocked. That's when you know you've been topped out. You're not going anywhere, no matter how much harder you work, how much better you get, or what miracles you perform for the company. It is a critical moment when an executive realizes he has been passed over. If his rage does not result in a bleeding ulcer or worse, the exec may continue through the motions, doing his job but not enjoying it - an attitude that invariably spills over into other areas of his life. Or he may become destructive, directing his venom at his coworkers, doing his best to undermine the plans and programs of others. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Time spent during life of an 80 year old man: in bed: 26 yrs eating 6 yrs working 21 yrs being angry 6 yrs waiting 5 yrs shaving 30 days showering/brushing teeth 228 days scolding his children 26 days tying his necktie & shoelaces 18 days blowing his nose 18 days lighting his pipe/cigarette 18 days laughing..... only 46 hours daydreaming. unrecorded. Have an open mind..... --------------------------------------------------------------------- PLANNING EARLY The time to begin planning for retirement is at least ten years before you turn 65 - early enough to avoid the three major pitfalls that can befall retirees: financial insecurity, uncertainty about where to live, and post-retirement letdown, which can turn your well-earned reward into a tedious agony. So each retiree has the challenge to creating his or her own life-style. This can be a problem or an opportunity, because there are many subtle issues involved in retirement. People who are most successful to the transition to later life are those who can let go of old roles, open themselves to a broader personal perspective and reach out with a firm grasp to new opportunities. A person with a sense of security, sound physical and mental health, self-motivation and multiple interests is certainly no candidate for oblivion on retirement. Sometimes a person's retirement is harder on his spouse. "I married him for better or for worse, but not for lunch!" said Casey Stengel's wife when he finally hung up his uniform in his seventies. Retirement planning takes time and thought. Yet you are about to undergo a definite change in life-style and living patterns which, like any change, requires flexibility to be most effective. Retirement is full of exciting possibilities as well as potential problems. You have a choice you can let retirement happen to you, or make it happen for you. To ignore the important changes on the horizon will leave you at the mercy of circumstances and luck, but planning ahead will put you in control of your own future, so that you can shape it in a satisfying, self-fulfilling way. These years are potentially the most pleasurable and rewarding you will ever spend.. You will be called upon to make some major adjustments, but on the other hand, you will be free for the first time of many of the bonds which determined your past and present life-style. It can be immensely liberating to have the kids grown and on their own. It's honeymoon time again. It's possible in retirement to remove many of the constraints which have governed your life in the past. The problem now is often an embarrassment of choices, which can be tricky to handle if it's something you've never experienced in the past. You've grown older but that doesn't mean you shouldn't reach for just what you want instead of settling for what other people have in mind for you. Retirement is the right time to pursue dreams. The trick to turning your fond dreams into rewarding reality simply is: be imaginative in coming up with a set of options consult other people to help you come up with possibilities and provide an up-to-date, realistic picture of their own fields of interest, and; get started in the direction you choose now, rather than putting off fulfilling your desires, as you may have done in the past. Some people try to avoid thinking in advance about retirement because they feel that retirement indicates the end of their useful years. These fears are deeply ingrained in our society, even though retirement has gone through a veritable revolution in the past two decades. I'd like to see you get over the rampant cliche that retirement automatically kills you. That's simply not true. Retirement today is very definitely the beginning of a new, lengthy, important stage of life, rich with promise and well worth planning for. The stress involved at retirement or other times of change doesn't have to be a problem - it can be the spice which adds zest to everyday life. The key to enjoying the situation is to accept the fact that there is going to be a certain tension involved and get on with the business of exploration, preparation and decision making which will let you fill the approaching years with planned pursuits, passions and pastimes. Plan to make your life a continuous, active life from day to day, and don't plan for a day when you have nothing useful to do. The important thing is to feel needed. You will also need time to discover and evaluate the options open to you. Begin your planning early and you will widen the range of possible choices when you do retire. If you are married, a major advantage of thinking about retirement long before the day arrives is that it helps you and your spouse to reconcile and realign your individual expectations for the future. The feeling of security which arises from planning for the future will make you calmer and more confident right now. By eliminating some of the fears and uncertainties about tomorrow, you can deal more effectively with the present, enjoying its pleasures and solving its problems. And you may find yourself growing closer to your spouse, as you discuss the future together, sharing decisions, solving problems, and exploring options as a couple. Last but certainly not least, you can enjoy about retirement twice - once in planning for it and once in living it. Planning itself can be an enjoyable part of your current activities. Discovering new options, discussing them with your spouse, family, and friends, and finally making your selection is a tremendously invigorating, challenging, and rewarding activity. Retirement planning is a way of balancing your needs and desires against your resources to produce the greatest possible personal happiness. You will have to arrive at a pretty good estimate of each element of this equation before you can make reasonable decisions for your future. Your needs in retirement take in not only the physical necessities of food, shelter, clothing, and medical care, but also your psychological requirements as a human being who needs purpose, interest and satisfaction in life. You will have to base your judgment of future needs on the way you live today, with an added understanding of what new requirements growing older will impose on you in your efforts to remain comfortable, healthy and happy. Your desires for the future may include the fulfillment of lifelong dreams. or simply a continuation of present pleasure. Whether your plans are modest or grand, it is essential that you give your imagination its full rein during the planning process. If you envisage yourself as a crotchety old coot in retirement, your standards for happiness will fall far short of your potential. With an optimistic self-image fixed in your mind, you can explore the ways in which you want to use your time on two fronts - by learning more about what is available to you and by learning more about your own personal preferences. If you are not unclothed or hungry or in need of medical attention, wealth has no direct proportional meaning to the quality of your life. The key is to provide for those things that are really most important to you. And you can do that by planning ahead. By actively building, nurturing , and managing all your future resources, you will be able to maximize the physical and emotional assets which will sustain you for the rest of your life. MARRIED Over the years since you made your marriage vows you've shared the pleasures and responsibilities of life together. There were children to raise, money to be made, and an endless stream of neighbors, friends, doctors, relatives, teachers, newspaper boys, and auto mechanics to deal with. You developed a system for coping with all this. Each of you staked out area of authority and expertise, and you established a decision-making process to handle all the choices which were likely to arise. Retirement will shake up some of the basic structures of your marital system. The demands of your time will change, so the daily chores may have to be allocated in a different manner. How will your marriage respond to the changing roles in your lives as the importance of being a breadwinner, a homemaker, a father or mother is altered. And what if one of you is ready to retire while the other wants to keep working? Many of the marital stresses at retirement can be dealt with in advance, while others will come up unexpectedly. By establishing a sense of cooperation you can go a long way toward making all the adjustments later. Use the pre-retirement planning questions you know you will face to set a pattern for the rest of your decision making. Where will the money come from? Where will you live? What leisure activities will you pursue? Work out the answers together, as a couple, and you will have built a strong foundation for your future marital happiness. Special problems can impede communications, even if your relationship has worked well for years. By spotting these potential difficulties early on, confronting them together, and if necessary getting help from a friend or a professional, you can avoid marital stress and strain in your transition to retirement. One common problem centers on the fear of retirement and, with it, the fear of growing old. Organize your discussion around the items which please you both, and then you can start to deal with retirement decisions as they relate to these key concerns. You will develop a set of priorities in financial planning, deciding where to live, and incorporating other leisure activities as your discussion branches out, until you have a fairly comprehensive retirement plan and can move in the directions you have outlined for the future. Your spouse has always shared with you - the good times and the bad. And with all the extra time available after you retire, the two of you will be able to enjoy many more hours together, building a better, stronger marriage, right? Well, yes and no. A radical change in the amount of time you spend together can upset the rather delicate balance between togetherness and privacy. And if yours is a marriage in which absence had really made the heart grow fonder, suddenly becoming 24 hour a day companions could be the death knell to a stable relationship. The most frequent complaint we heard from married retirees was that one spouse had no life of his or her own. Instead of lively interplay and interdependence there was a constant demand made on one of the marital partners to provide entertainment for the other There can be too much togetherness, but there certainly doesn't have to be. The key in planning is to have separate activities available, as well as activities you pursue as a couple. You can't tell exactly how much time you will want to spend together. More likely the only times you've been together day and night for more than a few days have been vacations, and that is certainly not enough to judge the effect of having one another's company on a full-time basis. Retirement can be the last straw in a troubled relationship. Under no circumstances should you expect retirement to solve your problems if your marriage is not working well now. It is easy to blame your marital difficulties on job tensions and time spent apart. But if the time you now spend together is tense and uncomfortable, it is likely to be more so when you retire and have even more time together. HAPPY RETIREES The people who were making the most of their retirement years, whose enthusiasm and energy would be impressive at any age, were those who had found meaningful activities to involve and stimulate their thoughts and emotions. There are certain common denominators for all of them: Schedule. Whether it's a matter of keeping an appointment or simply a routine set by the individual to keep his or her life in order, they all have a time scheme for the day or the week. Goal. Sometimes, this is a definite completion point for a project, sometimes simply a feeling of progress or of making an ongoing contribution. Sense of challenge: Instead of choosing the easiest possible activities, the retirees who seemed to be living life to the fullest are seeking out more difficult tasks, both for the pure enjoyment of succeeding at them and for the feeling of self-assertion and pride they have while doing them. Of course, not everyone wants solitude. Many people are, in fact, happier with other people near them. They like a beach with enough other people to form a team of volleyball; the ladies like to chatter with other ladies while the toddlers play together; the teenagers like a bit of action around the place. Such sociable folks only find themselves on the fringes of the few remaining wild places - where they seldom stray far from their cars- because their cars led them there, but no further. It has been suggested that such people might be discouraged from going to the wilderness by restricting even further a journey by car, making fairly strenuous walking a prerequisite for penetrating the solitudes. This would channel the more socially minded into areas where the amenities they desire are provided: car parks, toilets facilities, indoor amusements if the weather turns sour, and so on. But the natural leisure resources are so limited that, even with selective use by different sections of the population with different needs, they will prove inadequate unless man-made leisure facilities are provided on a generous scale to supplement them. There has been interesting new thinking on this particular subject. Marinas are big business already and are likely to expand still further with the leisure explosion. Nor need they be confined to the coastal areas , for rivers, canals, inland lakes and reservoirs and even water-filled pits which remain from excavation of sand and gravel are already pressed into service, both for boating and sailing and for water sports generally. The fisherman too is not forgotten (nor should he be for fishing is one of the most popular of participator sports): some of the gravel pits are being specially stocked with fish ready for the eager angler. Another source of leisure activity that has been organized with considerable success is the nature trail. On these, walkers are guided by signs along an easy-to-follow track, graded both as to length and ease of walking. A guide booklet is provided to tell them what to look out for at different stations along the way, such as trees, flowers, rock formations, historic or archeological sites, and places where certain insects, animals or birds might possibly be seen if the walker is lucky (and quiet). These nature trails cater principally for those, mainly city dwellers, who are not familiar with the countryside and do not know what to look for, and who might otherwise be bored or even do damage. Understanding is the first major step in conservation and the ecologist may well be pleased with the success of nature trails with city slickers. PIE IN THE SKY The prospect of a life largely freed from the 'daily grind' may seem to most of us a thing to be welcomed, for the majority of the workers still works at jobs that are just that ... A grind! The idea ofhaving time 'to stand and stare' has always been alluring. The British humorist put it wittily at the turn of the century when he wrote: "I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me; the idea of getting rid of it nearly breaks my heart." To most of us, the idea of a leisure explosion sounds marvellous. Yet, already, the social psychologists are making noises, urging us that human happiness depends on making a meaningful effort, of striving and of achieving. They threaten us with decadence and the big bogey 'boredom'. They point to the need for people now, before the long, jobless hours are upon them, to find personal or social goals to replace those at present found in work, to help them keep a direction and a sense of purpose in their lives. Would-be Sybarites dismiss their warnings, claiming there is no problem and point to the world of nature where animals seem to find great contentment in eating, mating and sleeping, finding no urge to clock-in or justify their existence by purposeful activity. THE IDLE RICH It is quite possible, of course, that even the social psychologists are themselves still affected by the philosophy of the work ethic and are, in effect, still recommending, like the Bible, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard." Yet, the ant is not among most peoples' favorite insets. We may marvel at his social organization, his cooperation with his fellows - but as an individual, he does not exist. The psychologists might do better to tell us to emulate that far more attractive insect, the butterfly. Bertrand Russell wrote: "I think there is far too much work done in the world; that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous, and that what need to be preached in modern industrial countries is quite different from what always has been preached." In other words, in the leisured future that may lie only just around the corner, we will all be working in order to live, instead of living merely to work. We need not view the prospect with gloom. Those with wealth have been doing it for centuries with success and enjoyment; those who chose to believe that the idle rich are necessarily all either decadent or bored silly are deluded by their own envy. But we should all be thinking seriously about how we can prepare ourselves to take full advantage of the time we will find on our hands. THE LEISURED CLASS Until recent times, the phrase "the leisured classes" had a precise connotation. They were the rich and nobly born and later included the 'nouveaux riches' and those born 'with a silver spoon in their mouth'. For all but this minority, almost continuous labor was their lot, time off being limited to 'high days and holy days - the feasts of the Church'. Even in the nineteenth century, the 12-hour working day was quite usual; those who were granted a week's leave - without pay, of course - could think themselves fortunate indeed. Children began work as early as six years old at the beginning of the century, before the days of compulsory education, and, even in the 1890's, 12 was considered a ripe old age for anyone to start earning his bread. At the other end of life, you just went on working until you were too old to be of use, or until you dropped dead. Leisure was no problem for the working classes. For the moneyed classes, things were different. "Work is the grand cure of all the maladies that ever beset mankind," said Carlyle, adding on another occasion, "All work, even cotton spinning, is noble." This view of work sums up the Victorian work ethic, that 'labor was God-given and essentially excellent and that there is something intrinsically sinful in leisure, or idleness.' so that if a man could work 24 hours a day - but never on Sundays - it would be a good thing. For the idea of each man accepting his lot with contentment, each according to his appointed station (even though that meant that one man's day might consist in the earnest pursuit of what we would call pleasure, while another man would be labouring at some task both exhausting and uncongenial), had been promulgated for centuries. Such teaching emanated, as might be expected,, from those for whom the status quo was eminently satisfactory. A double standard was at work. AVOIDING WORK IS EVIL For centuries, the average man has been conditioned to believe that there is something good in work, that to avoid it is a sign of evil. Even at the end of the twentieth century, we are still living with the remnants of this kind of thinking. But now, it looks as though we will have to change our entire philosophy about work and leisure, and change it fast. For automation is reducing substantially the amount of time we will spend at work and is increasing substantially the time we have left on our hands, to do what we will. EFFECTS OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION The technical revolution, which began as the industrial revolution, has been with us for nearly 200 years yet, it is only now, at the end of the 20th century, that its effects on us human beings are starting to have their greatest impact of all. We have gradually become accustomed to living with machines and using them as tools to serve us, to make our lives easier and extend our potential. But we will soon have to get used to the idea of machines taking over altogether many of the jobs we have done up to now. Time and labor will be saved for us by technology to such an extent that by the end of the 1990's, the average working week may well be as short as 15 hours. For many workers already, the four-day week and the six-week holiday are here. Once the prerogative of the few, leisure is fast becoming a way of life for all of us. BORED TO DEATH Gradually, as technology takes over, there will be less work to do, and the work that remains is likely to change in kind. There will be great need for teachers and educators, for we will have to learn to use our leisure; the nature of education will have to change from 'job-oriented' to being 'leisure-oriented'. It was the French poet Beaudelaire who said : "One must work from inclination, at least out of despair - since it proves, on close examination , that work is less boring than amusing oneself." His remark is echoed in Hedda Gabler's desperate claim to have talent only for "boring myself to death." With Hedda, her boredom turned to mischief and violence; and we can see similar force in action today among the rowdies at organized sports games and the hooligans that prowl the streets. They have the leisure and energy and no idea what to do with either. They have not been educated to amuse themselves. HOW ARE WE TO COPE? How are we all going to cope with the extra time on our hands? How well or badly are we going to be affected by having less work to do? It all depends of course on what you mean by work. One simplistic definition is that work is a job for which you get paid, so that, if you are acting as a crew on a rich man's yacht you are at work, whereas if you take yourself out in your own sailboat, you are merely just messing about in boats. If you are painting a picture with the hope of selling it to pay the rent, you are at work whereas, if you are doing it as a relaxation from your present job as a bank clerk, you are merely another Sunday painter. If you are papering someone else's room, you are at work; if you are doing your own, it is just a useful hobby. A lot depends too on what the job for which you get paid actually is. Some think what we call "creative work" ought not to be called work at all. The professional and managerial classes now work longer hours than manual workers. This is quite natural. Those tied to the assembly line cannot take their job home with them and complete it, even if they wanted to. And the question of job satisfaction is, of course, all important, for work satisfies more than economic security. An intense interest and pride in your work is the best insurance against both clock-watching and slipshod workmanship. PRIDE IN ONE'S WORK It is true but sad that the average typical unskilled or semiskilled job is not to engage the worker's interest or rouse his pride. He will work well or less well, according to his abilities and character, for as many hours as he is being paid for, and no more. A scientist, on the other hand, engaged in a series of engrossing experiments, is unlikely to leave his work simply because te clock has struck five; nor will a nurse desert her patient if her relief is late. For those who have been engaged in creative work or whose jobs have been engrossing, leisure is less likely to impose problems. The cabinet maker will go on making beautiful furniture and is likely to find willing apprentices to learn his skills and eager buyers for his products. The artist will still paint and make sculptures. UNEMPLOYMENT All kinds of service industries should expand, so there need not be widespread unemployment. Coaches for the various sports, guides for places of hystoric interest, chefs, gardeners for municipal parks and pleasure gardens, entertainers of all kinds, hairdressers and beauticians - more and more of these will be needed. And the need for people to run enlarged transportation systems and to clear away our rubbish will ardly diminish with increased leasure. Apart from the expansion in the service industries, the main change in the pattern of jobs will be a swing from physical to mental labour, with thinking at a premium and specially qualified men and women needed to run the automated machines that are making the leisure explosion possible. EDUCATION FOR LEISURE Obviously, the main need is for more teachers, especially for teachers of non-academic subjects. Teaching machines could help to take the load and would be particularly useful because they can cope with people learning at different speeds. Education will increasingly have to be oriented towards service to the community. And people will have to be convinced that it is a worthwhile and satisfying thing to serve society. There will be more and more elderly people around as the human life span increases, and work with them, performed as a leisure activity, could provide enormous satisfaction to people, especially young people, whose ordinary job is without human contact in an impersonal world of complicated machinery. ARISTOTLE SAID IT! Aristotle said that the purpose of education is the wise use of leisure and that the essence of happiness is doing the best we can with the talents we have, and so, actively fullfilling ourselves. In our leisured future, the pay we receive for the few hours we do work may be quite adequate for our needs, and we may by then have become bored with the acquisition of more and more material things, so that, moonlighting to get more money may have ceased to seem worthwhile. Some of us may not need the social contacts that we used to get through work, either because we are not too 'clubby' people or because we find our family life sufficiently satisfying. But, and this is most important, we still need to feel that we are achieving something, that we are neessary to the community. Major social adjustments are going to be necessary Although a great deal of money will have to be spent on facilities, in the end, each person will have to come to terms with his own leisure. One result, which is already becoming more apparent every day, may well be that people reject some of those very technological advances that have made the leisure explosion possible. They may return to making their own furniture rather than buying the mass-produced article, and to making their own clothes. They may reject 'convenience foods' and spend time cooking meals again, rediscovering the delights of home-baked bread and soup that has not come out of a can or package. They may grow their own vegetables, raise flowers from seed and spend some happy hours arranging them. More and more may learn to paint, decorate and repair their own house, if only out of sheer necessity as costs of such repairs rise. They may learn again the arts of conversation and debate, and of letter writing. The young have been saying it for some years now: do your own thing. In the age of leisure, we will all have to learn how!