Retire? This one-word question is fraught with context-specific meanings, subtleties, and layers of interpretation. The word itself can mean many things: to go to bed at night; to withdraw from the battlefield or the endeavour; to conclude your employment phase and stop receiving a paycheck from your employer in order to pursue retirement activities; to take something out of circulation; to withdraw from use; or to change or retread your tires (my personal favourite). So is the word “retire” usually connected to a good or happy event or with a sad or unfortunate event? When the true warrior says, “I am going to retire,” just what does he mean? Well, the context would help us come to a better guess. If it was said at the end of the day, we would guess that he or she was going to go to bed.

“Who cares about all this drivel? When someone says retire, I know what they mean and I act accordingly.” Well, the true warrior knows that someone can say things without providing a context. It could be a tweet, or a text, or an email, or a Skype call … the point is that the true warrior pays attention to the medium and does not jump to conclusions! Most of the time, the true warrior believes that he does not have any real idea as to what is going on, and most of the time it does not matter … as the true warrior lives in the moment and responds to what is happening right now. If true warriors have a question, they ask, and don’t let up until they either retire from the line of questioning or are satisfied that they truly understand.

You are warriors and you will retire when it makes sense to do so, in whatever context is appropriate for you. By living in the moment, you will be positioned to succeed where others fail to act, and grab the opportunity as it is presented. So it has been written.