I love sunsets. I can spend hours watching the sunset and taking photos. If you ask me the reasons for the same, I may not have many but it is mesmerising.

Similarly, most of us are overjoyed at the birth of a child. As the child grows ,we enjoy different stages of growth of the child. As an adult, we leave them alone to lead their own lives. Then ,it is the twilight hours for everyone in life.

Some of us are ready to enjoy the twilight years, while others are afraid to face this reality of life. As we age, our physical fitness is put to test and mentally, our memory fades. This is yet another stage of life and we need to prepare for the same ,so as to enjoy it.

I recollect a colleague of mine calling me desperately one day and wanted to discuss with him on something important. I readily agreed and we fixed a date and time ,to meet. To my surprise, he wanted to share his fear of his impending retirement. He was not ready for it and felt that he will not be able to manage his expenses with his savings.

I was surprised, as this colleague of mine had almost spent four decades in the organisation and was a finance professional. He had two sons and both were well educated and settled in life. When asked to explain his source of fear, he said that his savings is not enough for his post retirement expenses.

All of us know on the day we start our career in any organisation, when we are going to retire. It is mentioned in our appointment letter itself. We know what are the expenses ,at every stage of our lives. We need to plan and save for the future ,as much as our present. If we do a reasonably good job, then there is no need to be afraid of our sunset years.

I told him that I would also retire almost at the same time and I was looking forward to the same. Most of us have spent our most productive years working. We need to ensure right through our lives ,that we spend less than what we earn and have a regular savings habit.

We need to prepare for our retirement and post retirement life, as we plan for everything else in life. The best time to enjoy our lives is during our post retirement phase of life. We can live all our passions and travel around the world. We can read, write, travel, listen to music and just do nothing to listen to the sounds of nature.

Another important factor to prepare for our twilight years is our physical and mental fitness. We need to develop our own routine to keep fit. It could be a simple walk, yoga or playing a game of our choice every day. This helps us to be physically and mentally fit.

The last factor which can help us enjoy our twilight years is our attitude of gratitude. We may have had a happy family life, a successful career and a great circle of friends and relatives, who have enabled us to be successful in life. Now, is the time to give back. We need to acknowledge each of the individuals or groups of people, who have been by our side during our tougher days.

It is at this stage of life, we can give back to society ,for all that we have gained from it. We need to give back without expecting anything in return. We could donate our clothes, utensils, appliances which we do not use or artefacts. Our ability to share our physical and mental wealth ,with the world at large ,will make us happier.

We can share our knowledge by writing articles, mentoring students and young professionals or even teaching in a school. This could be our way to give back for all that we have earned in our lives, where others contributed to our prosperity.

The sunset years of our lives have to be lived in gratitude and thankfulness ,to everyone who contributed to our life and living.

S Ramesh Shankar

28th March 2023