For something different, we went for dinner to a hot wings place with my wife's sister's family to eat and watch game five of the Finnish championships. We don't buy the streaming for the hockey at home since we don't watch it much, but if they won tonight, they would finish the series as champions, for the third year in a row.
Which they did.
What is interesting is that there are two teams in the city and they have shared a home rink for many years. Over the last couple decades, the other used to struggle a lot, largely because they couldn't gather the money to build a better team. However, that has changed over the last five years, and now they are competing near the top also.
What has changed is that they are still sharing a home rink, but the city has built a quality entertainment center in the city center, that attracts a lot of shows, including world championship games and big name acts. This means that the city has been able to draw money away from the capital Helsinki, and some percentage of this goes to the teams. This has helped both teams build stronger and deeper lineups.
Isn't it silly?
While I like watching sport from time to time, as I like to see people excel at what they like to do, I also think that there is a lot of wastage in resources. We build entertainment centers, not hospitals and research facilities. We spend endless amounts on occupying our minds, but spend almost no time looking at ways we can improve ourselves and this world.
But of course, the excuse is that we all need downtime, we all need to get away from the serious stuff and spend some time doing something just for the hell of it. However, I also think that in the last few decades, the amount of time we expect to spend has grown massively, as have the ways we spend our time entertaining ourselves. For instance, a lot of people will go to a concert and say that they deserve the treat in entertainment, but how many people count the numerous hours they spend a day scrolling through the internet and streaming content as part of their downtime? What about other hobbies and exercise?
I don't remember my parents having so much entertainment activities. Did yours?
While it is impossible to truly compare, I wonder if there was an objective "which was better" time to live, when would that have been? A lot of people are complaining that life is very hard now due to the complexity of society and the economic stresses, but is it the case, or do we just buy into a much harder life, because we choose to spend so much of our time and resources avoiding work with entertainment?
What is a healthy level?
Tonight was the last game for one of the players, as he is at the ripe old age of 39 and is ready to retire. Not a bad way to go finishing with a championship, but still, it must be incredibly strange to be at that age, still playing at the top level, and ending a career that started 35 years ago. Sure, the first 15 years were largely unpaid, but the last twenty has taken him to the NHL, world championship medals, an Olympic bronze and national championships. Assuming there is about 40 years left in his life, what's next?
This is something I find interesting with elite sport, as whether there is money in the sport or not, to be in the global elite takes a massive amount of work for years on end. I think that this is part of the attraction for me when I watch sport, as it is seeing people who have committed to the pursuit of improvement, or at least maintenance when they get a bit older. And then, it just stops.
One of my friends was a professional hockey player in Finland and Sweden, and was able to play into his early forties because he worked so incredibly hard on his fitness, and rehab from the many injuries. For a time after he stopped playing, while he had many options in front of him, he really didn't know what to do with himself once the multiple trainings a day ended for the first time in his life. He had what must have felt like all the time in the world - but nothing to do.
Kind of funny though, isn't it? People rushing to retirement, yet the people who retire, don't seem to be much happier than anyone else, and many seem far less happy, as they don't have something to spend their time on that makes them feel relevant. But, maybe it comes down to what else is going on in life at the time of retirement also. For instance, my in-laws spent their early retirement looking after their grandkids, which they loved. But, what about all those people in the future who chose not to have families now?
I think retirement in 39 years from now is going to look quite different than today.
Not much to look back on other than time spent entertaining oneself. Not much to look forward to. And not much to do in the moment.
There is always Netflix.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
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I've actually been thinking harder about my retirement lately. I can do it pretty soon, but with my wife needing to work another four years past my retirement time it might not make sense. Plus I do enjoy my job most of the time and it pays the bills. In addition to that my wife and I are still able to do most of the things we want, so how would it be any different when I am retired. Just more time to fill I guess.
The thing is, there are thousands (millions?) of organizations that I'm sure would love your expertise and energy. I think the real gift of retirement is not having to worry about doing the things purely to pay the bills. If you enjoy your job, great, but you might also get a lot more value working with organizations that can't afford to pay you what you're getting paid now, but their work or mission might actually be more important.
I like my job, but I honestly can't wait when (if?) I retire so I can spend my energy on more important things than increasing shareholder value.
I work in public education so I feel like I already do what you are suggesting. I can verify based on my salary that I am doing this for a greater outcome than the paycheck!
Ah, well as someone who is working a corporate job, I salute all that you do! Thank you for all your work for your community!!
Thanks, I appreciate it. It's thankless sometimes, but I know in the grand scheme of things I am making a difference.
You definitely absolutely are!
Would make more sense to keep working another couple years at least, so then you can kind of pivot together, wouldn't it? Or, you finishing up a year earlier and prepping things for further adventures!
Yes, one of those two things I think. Either way I think by then we will both be at least 55, so still pretty early in the grand scheme of things if our finances and lifestyle can support it.
They can look after people they're not related to. There are so many people in the world that need some care and/or attention, I can't foresee the future, but I'm extremely confident there will always people that can use your help.
There will always be people who require/ want help, but in a society that has largely been built to help itself, I am not sure that people would pivot. Instead, it would likely be more that people double-down, and help themselves more, thinking if they just get enough for themselves, they will be contented.
Retirement is not on my bucket list because I know what lockdowns felt like and staying at home everyday is not as good as it may sound. We have Hive and other hobbies plus in my case I will always have a business interest running wherever I am in the world. I know too many people who once stopped working lost the spark they once had and it was all downhill from there.
As soon as we stop participating, we start dissolving ourselves of relevancy.
Yes that is very true and why staying involved in some things is crucial to who we are.
The seriousness of a given issue will depend on the group in which it is raised, and that does not mean that it is not important. It will be relevant if it interests and benefits me, otherwise it will be relevant.
We cannot denigrate others for not giving importance to the serious topics we raise or participate in; for sure, you would feel “out of place” in a religious chat and that does not mean that it is not serious and important.
Everyone is free to use his or her free time for recreational activities. My brother, for example, enjoys playing dominoes, but he hates chess, which is the game I love.
What makes you so certain?
How much chess will you play per day until it starts to have negative effects on your life and relationships?
How much would you write per day on “PC and/or Smartphone” until it starts to have negative effects on your life and relationships?
It has negative affects now, but it also has positive effects - like work does on my life and relationships. I don't write for my own entertainment.
I know that...
In my case, my intention has always been to get to know people from different cultures, to take from them what is good or what suits me best and to discard those that do not interest me. Without criticism, without disparaging labels… Everyone is the master of their own life, their own thoughts, their own reality. I do NOT generalise.
You also didn't answer the question about your assumption.
This is also for football. It has been an industry rather than sports. Perhaps, all is to make us flight from the bitter reality of life.
Or, to accept the bitter reality we are handed, rather than building something better.
This is a profound food for thought. I will begin to plan well for retirement, I might consider been a politician 🤭
What would you campaign for as a politician? :)
I would campaign for equal rights and justice for the poor
Watching a championship game with family is really awesome and it means a lot to for Finnish championship to win three years in a row. It’s really good to find the balance between entertainment and other things or your work lifestyle
The balance is what I question - it seems that there is never enough entertainment for people now.
Entertainment sells more than anything else, sometimes feels like people are running away from serious matters.
I think it doesn't feel, we are running away from what is serious. And, even when we look at serious topics, people don't look at them seriously.
Sounds true.
It's an interesting thing to think about. I guess they would probably end up playing games or on some online app. I think we are all going digital and I think if they want to look after kids, I guess there will be some technology that allows them to do so even if they don't have kids.
Money begets money. The city builds all these money making things because they easily bring in the cash. Hospitals, schools, and the like tend to cost them money even in the long run. In the Philippines, it is mostly private entities that build these things.