Years ago Steve Martin, the comedian, did a short sketch on "How to make a million dollars and not pay taxes on it." It was a simple, two-step process: first, make a million dollars, and two, when the IRS comes to ask why you did not pay taxes on the million dollars just say, "I forgot." Scott Adams' cartoon character, Dogbert, sells admission to his seminar on "How to turn a $100 investment into a million dollars." After collecting an admission fee from all the members of the audience, he advises them to put $100 in a savings account at 5% interest and wait a thousand years. Seminar dismissed.
These recollections came to mind this morning as I was reflecting on the fact that I have not checked on the status of my various retirement savings accounts for nearly six months. While the markets and stock indexes have headed south, I have not bothered to check the daily net asset value of my IRA even once. This from a guy who used to monitor this kind of information on a daily basis and watch Jim Cramer's Mad Money show every evening.
So, am I just being irresponsible? Is this a sign that I am in denial? Or is it an indication that my life journey has taken a new direction so that I no longer daydream about winning the lottery or hitting it big on the stock market so that I could quit an aggravating job? When people ask me how I am liking the new career I almost feel guilty talking about my good fortune of getting paid to do something that I love doing, something that inspires me, and something that, hopefully, makes a positive difference in the world.
Joseph Campbell advised that the secret to life is to follow one's bliss. I used to think that required first figuring out what made you happy and then charting a course to get there as if it was a destination. Now I am realizing that to follow your bliss is a journey rather than a destination and that "your bliss" is not the same as "your desire." I think the Buddhists have it right with their teaching that desire is the root of all suffering.
I went back to school in my mid-thirties thinking that if I got out of the ministry, I would be happy. That was my desire, to be happy. However, the coursework that I found most rewarding in my Master of Library Science program kept bringing me back to the ministry, i.e., applying information science theory to ministry practice. I ended up with a job that was challenging, the pay was decent, I got to travel, met a lot of good people, and got to work pretty independently, but it was not something that I could get passionate about.
I entered a PhD program thinking that I would move up in academic administration, make more money, and retire early enough to take my wife on a trip around the world and finish my bucket list. The goal was not happiness so much as a sense of accomplishment. However, I struggled and struggled to find a dissertation topic until I settled on the study of clergy in the sermon preparation task. Now I find myself helping to establish a Center for the Study of Information and Religion at Kent State University. Sixteen years ago I never would have dreamed of charting a course to arrive at where I am today. I got here by stepping through the doors that opened to me, taking a chance and then discovering that, yeah, this is really cool. This is bliss.
I don't need to look to know the balance of the retirement funds are lower than they were a year ago, but then retirement is probably the last thing on my mind these days. If anything, I need to check to see how old I can be before Kent State makes me retire. I am just having too much fun.
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