FRIENDSHIP

It's true that we do not choose our relatives or colleagues. 

Without sounding overly harsh, workmates are just friends of convenience.

Day in/day out, perhaps more than once a day, we sit down for coffee with those that we would not normally associate with.

We attend corporate events with them, we go for lunch with them, we even support their children's fundraising drives. But, if we are totally honest, we share very few common interests and would not voluntarily pick them as potential candidates in the friendship department.

There are exceptions, of course.

If we are lucky, some work relationships actually blossom into something more. We begin to care for each other beyond the "hey, how was your weekend?" niceties we extend to those we bump into in the corridor, at the water cooler, or in the cafeteria lineup.

Once you retire, though, you will learn quickly - and with jarring clarity - that very few of your colleagues are interested in keeping the love alive. Perhaps, the basis of your association has always been shallow. Perhaps it takes too much energy. Perhaps it's just not convenient. 

In the first year or so after retirement, you will manage to maintain a tentative connection to your workmates. You will exchange messages, meet for beer, and gab on the phone. But the frequency will thin out to a trickle and, all too soon, the tenuous link will be severed. Don't take it to heart. It's nothing personal. It's just time marching onward.

If you have developed genuine friendships at work, please remember to constantly nurture it while you are still working, and even more so after you leave. The more effort you invest in it, the better and stronger it will grow. And each time you come face to face, post work, you will rekindle that "old feeling" and both feel blessed for having taken such an active role in keeping the good vibes alive.

Believe me, it will be so worthwhile.

Of course, there is nothing to stop you from forging new relationships once you've retired. But the opportunities will be infrequent and the success rate very much a hit-or-miss.

I will share my own adventures in this regard in future posts. I hope you will find them useful and entertaining. So, stay tuned.