HIGH-PRESSURE MEN CANNOT RETIRE

Hokitika Guardian, 24 July 1928, Page 4

HIGH-PRESSURE MEN CANNOT RETIRE

(By SIR. CHARLES HICHAM, in the

London “Daily Mail.”)

The following article raises the interesting question whether an active nlan is wise to retire, and so deprive himself of the stimulus of work.

I have often wondered, supposing I had listened to all adverse critics of the strenuous conditions of modern life and had retired, whether I should be as happy as 1 ani to-day. Should I really have found contentment of mind and greater vigour had I left the advertising profession when I was financially able ?

I think, had 1 taken that step, I should not have been alive to write this article.

True, modern living conditions do demand a great deal of vivacity and staving power. But , surely idleness or slackness takes even greater toll through the low-spirited state to which an active man must, quickly sink so soon as ho leaves the fray. Mv contention is that hard work, or an active life, never killed any man. Worry, perhaps, but never work. There is no greater delusion on earth than that of the man who looks forward to spending the last few years of his life in untroubled ease. In the days that forego his retirement he works at great pressure in order to leave everything as he would like it and to ensure himself and family of real comfort when the “ happy ” day arrives for him to hand over the reins to someone else. Wlten the time comes, certainly he finds the ease, but it is never untroubled.

Sudden cessation from heavy activities which absorb the mental forces may even lead a man to take his own life! There was a case not so long ago. A successful man retired at the age of seventy-four. He idled for four years, without hobby or recreation. At the end of that time, lie suddenly grew desperate and committed suicide. At the inquest it was generally agreed by eminent medical men that the sudden braking of the human machine had so aflected him that he could see only one way out—and lie took it!

Not everyone is fond of work. Our amusement caterers could tell you tiiat But there is no getting away from the fact that work is a very great stimulant.' It is like oil to an engine—it keeps a man going. That is the reason why you find millionaires at their desks. The thought of personal gain dees not hold them there. It is simply the instinctive knowledge that without work life would ho empty and meaning less that makes them continue to concentrate their ene’rgi’es on something worth while, something creative. Gordon Selfridge once retired, but

for liow long, 0 In a - few months he was “ down to it ” again, to what purpose wo well kndw. If you have ever doubted the fact that work keeps you fit it is interesting to test yourself. Think of that week when things were slack at the office. How the hours dragged day by day. How you yawned and stretched and looked at the clock, fussed with your papers, or dusted your desk in a vain effort to find relief. How you were liverish and thoroughly depressed by the time Saturday came. Then compare it with the next week, when, perhaps, things bucked up. How you began to feel better. How you hummed, whistled, sang, because you felt the very vigour of life running through your veins once more. Modern life and plenty to do cannot harm you, if you do not overdo the recreation side.

1 believe in recreation. Properly i n-j dulged in it gives you the stimulus you need ; it keeps you fresh ; but overdone it does more harm than good. I say that any man is equal to modern conditions if he leads a healthy life, avoids excess and does good work to keep himself occupied. Given the necessary love and enthusiasm for their calling, whatever it may ,be, any man or woman can find too much fascination in it ever to want to leave it—even if they possess the largest fortune in the world. Look around you and you will find this is so. Men who are earning thousands a year in big positions stay there because they could not bear to have nothing to do. They carry on and help others along the road they have trodden. , When shall 1 retire? Never! Let mo die in harness!