The end is nigh....(maybe...maybe not)

Apparently if you are a Dalek you are about to be retired. Having begun life in 1963 and achieving screen success in the 1965 film "Dr Who and the Daleks" with Peter Cushing and Roy Castle, the BBC report that the Daleks are to be retired... but then we have heard all this before and the ever youthful Time Lord himself was once put out to pasture, but is now a fairly successful element of BBC programmes. Given the longevity of the Doctor and the worlds favourite "monster" I imagine that attempting to retire the Dalek may be a little premature.

Recent discussions with several clients have revealed a similar pattern - retirement ages may be moved around, but a considerable number of our clients are adopting a less "final" approach to retirement. Many voice the view that they enjoy working and if not employed to do so, expect to find their time occupied in something that looks and feels rather like "work". Perhaps the term "work" is unhelpful, with associations (perhaps) of hard graft and the daily grind... a better term to use is fairly difficult to pin down. Terms that we might consider could be "calling" or "vocation" or even dare I sound too much like a coach "passion".

I increasingly find clients are less concerned with reaching "retirement" and having a tick list of things to do before I die - thankfully. As none of us know when our time is up (apparently now also including "the world will definitely end on 21 May 2011" delusions of  the Californian Mr Camping) it is perhaps wise to consider living whilst you are alive - as fully as possible. If ever I needed a nudging reminder of this, it was in the form of an interesting preview of new film "Life In One Day" which is a collection of video snippets of a day in the life of... well, the planet. This is a "small film" which really means that it will not get a lot of airtime at cinemas across the UK. If you get the chance to have a look, its worth watching (though the wobbly camera work that is inevitable with the amateur film maker means that you should sit a reasonable distance from the screen to avoid a sense of motion sickness). It is released in the UK on 17th June.