George Bernard Shaw
While it is always dangerous to put words in someone else's mouth or to try to explain what they meant I suspect that what George Bernard Shaw experienced was the excitement of having a life that was directed by meaning and purpose. I suspect that he was fulfilling that meaning and purpose when he was working. I know that I get excited when I feel that I have something significant to accomplish today, and as much as I enjoy a day of down time it would be dreadful if day after day was just "down time." I am as guilty as the next person of daydreaming about the day I retire and am not required to do productive work day after day. I do worry about our society, however, as more and more of us baby boomers find ourselves with lots of time on our hands in retirement. I've met lots of happy retirees but I have also met lots who are lost and unsure of how to live out the rest of their lives. Without purpose life looses its meaning and I suspect that living for the next hedonistic moment will not cut it in the long run. The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying:
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5)
Just as the Lord made Jeremiah with a purpose I believe he made me and you with one too. When we are about fulfilling that purpose we are the happiest.
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