The road ahead is full...

I came across this quote by  Muriel Rukeyser  "All the poems of our lives are not yet made". When we retire, some of us want to continue to write the poems of our lives, but others only want to read the poems they have already written. Retirement is a time of reflection and renewal, a chance to honour the past while embracing the possibilities of the future. Yet, it’s easy to hold too tightly to what has been, forgetting that the road ahead is still full of untapped potential. I encourage you to embrace the following truth that all the poems of our lives are not yet made. There is still time to create, to grow, and to shape a legacy that reaches beyond the present moment.

The past is rich with lessons, memories, and meaning. It has shaped who we are, but it does not have to confine who we can become. Those wounds we carry, the laughter of youth, and the dreams we once held—they are not merely echoes; they are seeds. Each carries the possibility of growth, renewal, and creation. They call out to us, urging us to redefine peace in our lives and in the world around us.

Retirement is not the end of purpose but the beginning of a new chapter. We are the architects of its meaning. The young—our children, grandchildren, and all those who follow us—look to us for guidance, inspiration, and hope. The unborn—the future itself—waits for the stories we will create, the wisdom we will share, and the love we will leave behind.

This is the time to take the lessons of our past and use them to forge something beautiful. It’s the time to fight for the birth of new ideas, new connections, and new adventures. It’s the time to build meanings that resonate with the life we’ve lived and the dreams we still hold.

And yes, it’s the time to sing. To sing the songs of gratitude for all we’ve experienced, to sing of hope for what lies ahead, and to sing of love—for ourselves, our families, and the world.

Let’s embrace this season of life with open hearts and minds, knowing that the best poems are yet to be written. The stanzas we create now, with the wisdom of age and the fire of experience, can be the most profound of all. So let us listen to those cries from within and beyond, and answer them with courage, creativity, and compassion. The future waits for us to shape it—let’s make it extraordinary.