Thanking all my online and offline friends for the heartwarming wishes on my birth anniversary. I was down with the flu to respond immediately. My frontal neocortex was shut off from endless sneezing that I could not think straight. So, here is a belated reflection as I almost hit a full zodiac cycle by the Bhutanese calendar.

Aging is a natural process where years get added to life. It is not in your hands. It happens regardless of all of us and to all of us. However, not everything needs to be left to time, fate, and nature. You have a choice too. You can add life to the years, as the cliché goes.

Let me share my own approach and experience. And by no means is this to sound condescending or moralizing.

Unfollow the script.

You see, just before the covid years, I had an inkling that something was off with the standard script of our life—the established conventions, the social norms, and the predetermined expectations. Covid-19 confirmed that feeling, with the lessons of impermanence being hammered on us by the sudden pandemic. I was on to completing my doctoral studies and take up a teaching position in a foreign university. But everything changed in an instant.

Ever since that, I don’t take anything for granted. I don’t wait for doing what needs to be done. If there is a meaningful project, I grab it and run with it. If there is a place to go, I don’t wait. If there is a person in distress, I try to help. Every year is an achievement. Every month is a blessing. Every day is a gift. Every moment is to be cherished.

One problem with following the convention is that you get deleted once your usefulness expires, such as reaching the so-called retirement age—a concept that is nonexistent in the traditional Bhutanese society but which became widespread with the introduction of the modernization era. Ten years back I had all these realizations.

No such thing as retiring.

Today when I travel, I meet my mates from my school and colleges and work colleagues who have mostly retired. This, I feel, is a huge scam we have fallen for. Retirement is a concept we borrowed from the Industrial Revolution, where you are disposed of once you are not strong enough. Worse still, you “delete” yourself. As a small country with a small productive workforce, this is a waste. Monks and farmers never retire.

I feel one should not stop working—especially the doctors, engineers, and teachers. Recently, when I was in Buli, I met one of my juniors from engineering college, who said he was retired. I told him that there is no such thing as retirement and that I want to see him in Gelephu for two to three months every year to help build the mindfulness city. There are a myriad of ways to give back to the country, king, and community. And lots of ways to add life to your years.

Fun facts about Gen X.

The thing is, my generation—Generation X, the generation that grew up eating WFP wheat supplies, the generation that got the first vaccinations, the generation that walked for days to get to a road, the generation that came from the School of Hard Knocks—will probably live longer than their parents. Past the age of 80 for sure if one leads a healthy life, and many may even cross 90. Now, that is a good 20+ years to operate on your own.

Sure, life is uncertain. But, again, this is something no one can do anything about. What you can do, instead, is to start thinking about how to fill those 20 years in the most meaningful ways that will make you proud and without having to check with the whims and fancies of your capricious boss and a judgmental society. You can move around more freely and make your own choices.

This, of course, is not to suggest abandoning one’s obligations and responsibilities, but an invitation to do what makes one truly happy and fulfilled without the boundaries set by the service rules and social pressures. In fact, a friend of mine once shared that he really felt he was serving the country better after he left the government job. His was the first hotel to offer itself as a quarantine station during Covid.

So, to all the people from GenX, keep going! You can still contribute to humanity; you can volunteer for one of the numerous spiritual monument projects in GMC, you can teach our Desuung and Gyalsung, or you can volunteer for any of the NGOs in the country. The opportunities are there.

For millennials and those born after.

The millennials! Because of all the constant distractions and intense lifestyle, you guys will age very fast. You are 17 one day and 47 in an instant. 30 years, gone! You will soon be in line at the exit door. Start thinking now about how best you can give life to your years. What greater meaning can you find? What difference can you make? How many lives have you changed? Is this life all that there is? You may be judged by the number of houses you own or the career you pursued and attained. But what will truly make you feel deeply satisfied inside is how many lives you have made a difference to and how many moods you have uplifted.

For Gen Z and Gen Alpha, there won’t be a script to follow, as the world you will live in will change so fast that you will be in the recycle bin more often than not. I will elaborate on this in my future articles.

Meanwhile, start adding life to your years as Mother Nature adds years to life.

🤩🤩🤩

NB: Starting the first day of the rest of my life by sending out school-going expenses for my beneficiaries 😇😇😇

(Photo – with His Eminence Sonam Gyatso (aka Abhum) Rimpoche, for whom I jumped at the privilege of showing him our country. He really liked the Tshering Chhegna circuit. He was a teacher to Dorje Phagmo Rimpoche when she studied in Mysore.