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I wrote the third of 5 Real Estate exams at the end of last year.  This one was the culmination of 3 weeks of in class study of the real estate transaction.  It’s hard to believe you could find 2 large textbooks and all the associated workbooks full of technical detail to talk about but there it is.  It was an intense and full 3 weeks.  And one of things I am discovering along this road is that I don’t absorb new stuff like I used to.  I think as we get older we just develop a thicker skull and it takes more effort for stuff to sink in.  I have had to figure out how to study again.

There is process to learning and we don’t all learn in the same way.  I have found over the years that learning something new is not about memorizing the individual parts of a thing.  For me it is more like soaking in something and having the big picture slowly (more slowly now than ever) but surely start to come into focus.  I think that may be because I have never been particularly good with detail.  I need to know how it all works together in order to be satisfied that I have learned it.  I really wish I could have discovered this way of learning when I was in high school.  HIgh school was a brutally  frustrating experience, a significant contributor to my decision to go to work rather than go on to university.

Another thing I’ve had to learn as I continue along my retirement journey is to be a little more gracious over against myself.  I arrived in class the first Monday of this latest real estate course expecting to be handed my books and course material.  I asked the instructor where they were and she advised me that they should have arrived at my house.  I asked Debbie about it and she said “there’s a box of stuff in office closet that I’ve been wondering about”.  Turns out the box arrived this summer while we were in Europe.  I remember seeing it within the first few hours of arriving at home and thinking “I’m gonna have to get to that”.  It was put into a pile of stuff that ended up in the closet and I never thought about it again.  The bottom line was that everyone in the class had already been through the books once and I was behind the 8 ball.  So the first week was a scramble to catch up and a period of beating myself up for not being on top of it.  After all, I’m retired, what else do I have to do?

I did get through it, passed the exam which required a mark of 75%, and even managed to squeeze in a SCUBA course on one of the weekends.  That was a whole other story.  This time I was learning a whole bunch of new stuff with a group of 20-somethings watching every failed attempt.  Again, a little bit more grace would have gone a long way to making that easier.

One of the things that has been somewhat of a surprise to me is how long it has taken me to find a “job” that I can jump into and make my own.  I had honestly thought it would come clear to me much sooner than it has.  I’ve been volunteering and expected that would lead to clarity on a place to plug in.  The truth is that a volunteer position is limited and, unless I’m willing to commit to full time, I am still on the outside looking in to some degree.  What I’m discovering is a big wide, sometimes bewildering, world that is full of opportunity.  I’m also discovering that I am not as willing as I thought I might be to give up the flexibility that has given us the opportunities to travel or just hang out when we want to.

I do, however, want to be connected to something.  It is one of the things that I miss most about not going to work.  So I continue to seek out connections in different ways.

A few weeks ago I was reminded of an organization called ONE that was started about 10 years ago by Bono from U2.  It’s an organization of mostly volunteers whose sole purpose is to advocate for an end to extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.  Their approach is to use social media and networking to raise awareness, to educate people as to what the issues really are and to keep government leaders accountable for the commitments made on their election platforms.

I like the element of political activity and the challenge of conveying a coherent message to a sound byte society.  I like the fact that the message is hopeful.  While extreme poverty continues to be a factor for far too many of the worlds people, considerable progress has been made and I feel like I want to make a contribution to that progress.  I’ve been asked why I would want to get involved in a problem that is half a world away and doesn’t really affect me.  I don’t think it’s true that it doesn’t affect me.  I honestly believe that, if we were to solve the problem of extreme poverty, many of the threats that we are now spending trillions of military dollars on would simply disappear.  And, again, from whom much is given, much is expected.

So I’ve volunteered as a Parliamentary Riding Leader for ONE.  My job is to build a team of volunteers and supporters in my riding of Flamborough – Glanbrook (David Sweets riding).  This blog is kind of a coming out I guess.  I am going to spend the next few months figuring out how to engage people and will probably be much more active on social media than I have been.  Good skills to develop, an opportunity to build relationships, and maybe have a little fun along the way.

Just to be clear, I will never ask you for money.  It’s your voice that I’m interested in.  That may mean your signature on a petition or a card to your Member of Parliament.  If you’re not in my riding, I can hook you up.  If you’re interested in getting more involved, feel free to contact me and we can talk about that.  Or check out ONE.org to learn more about the latest project.

As a kid, and eventually as a young man growing up, I was very clearly told that, if I wanted to enjoy the privileges of adulthood, I had to be willing to accept the responsibility that inherently comes with them.  It seems to be common sense.  I grew up accepting that I had to count the cost for privilege and seemed to understand intuitively that the responsibility that came with it was inherent.

It’s a principle that I’ve applied in guiding me through my retirement journey.  I believe that we are privileged in North America.  We are among the richest people in the world and I don’t believe for a second that God has blessed us this way because He loves us more than all the rest.  I think He makes it pretty clear that we are to share that blessing and use it for the benefit of all.

I’ve had to get my head around that as I find my way forward.  When I reflect back on my path so far, I remember that it began with a nagging feeling that the way we lived was a little uncomfortable.  A family of 5 living in a 2700 square foot brick house out in the country.  It felt a bit like gluttony, space to spare, food to spare.  That nagging feeling seemed to increase in amplitude as I spent time in Calgary and Haiti.  And yet, when I looked around, it seemed that the message I was getting was that it was simply a reward for hard work.  That is, after all, the American dream.  Work hard, own your destiny.  Now, there’s nothing wrong with hard work.  But it seems to me that the dream has gone off the rails in the last few years.  The dream seems to now be driving the protectionist agenda to build walls and fences in order to keep out the huddled masses that stand in the way of “making America great again”.  That doesn’t seem right………. does it?

I do not believe the answer is as simple as just opening up my house to someone less fortunate.  That’s not a sustainable or even a desirable outcome for my family or the family that would share our space.  And carrying around a burden of guilt and angst because of my success does not serve anyone either.  I think it’s the realization that my “success” is as much about privilege and circumstance as it is about hard work and the right answer is in finding the balance.

So I realize that my political view is shifting because I can’t simply respond to the need around me with the advice to work harder and make better choices.  I know I have a responsibility to share my gifts, abilities, and resources with those who find themselves with a heavier load to bear that they have strength for.  That resource is not just money.  I think Haiti has taught me that just pouring money into a situation can sometimes do more harm than good.  Sometimes the resource I can offer is a simple word of encouragement or a hand up rather than a handout.  Because it is very clear to me that the poor have responsibilities too and I expect them to show up with whatever they have to contribute.

I want to share a little story that illustrated this for me.  I had a conversation with the Executive Director of Indwell a few months ago.  I was being interviewed for a volunteer position and we were talking about poverty.  I shared a little of my personal view that everyone should come to the table prepared to contribute whatever they are able.  Jeff told me a story of a fund raising dinner that he had attended.  After the dinner he was helping to count the pledges that had been collected from the attendees and he noticed that some of the addresses were familiar.  He quickly realized the reason for that was that the contributions were being made by people who were tenants of Indwell, people who were benefitting from the ministry and community at Indwell and who wanted to give back.  People who had been helped to their feet at some point and recognized their responsibility.

It’s a story that I recall whenever I need a reminder of how privilege and responsibility is supposed to work.

 

In my last post I wrote about distillation and the kernels of character knowledge that come out of that process.  I started my retirement journey with a general interest in poverty issues and the political and economic implications of it and have been exploring avenues and relationships that catch my attention.  It feels intentional and yet feels like an adventure.  To some degree I’m following a quote I heard recently that resonated.  It was “if you’re the smartest guy in the room, you’re in the wrong room”.  I like that.

Last summer I began volunteering with a non-profit organization called Christians Against Poverty.  It’s an organization that provides debt coaching and financial literacy training in partnership with local churches.  I think it is a great model in that it gives churches a practical way to walk alongside people that are struggling with debt or money management issues and a level of professional support to stick with them even through the really tough stuff like bankruptcy.  Initially my role was that of money coach delivering the money course that my local church was offering but eventually I got involved as a one day a week volunteer at the CAP head office.  My goal was to get to know the organization better and find a place to fit in.

I also began volunteering with Indwell, a non-profit organization that develops affordable housing.  Their area of focus is people that struggle with mental health issues.  The theme of hope and homes really resonates with me.  That and the fact that my brother works for Indwell and loves it, and Debbie and I have been supporting the organization for years.  It also felt like a good fit because I have a lot of years of high level project management experience, there is an element of politics in getting housing projects approved, and I’ve had experience owning a multi-unit residence that we operated and rented to an organization that supports people with developmental handicaps.  So I’ve had a bit of exposure to the sector.

I have been reminded along the way that it is a journey.  I’m becoming more and more excited by the adventure, the fact that there are lots of opportunities and I do not have to resign myself to just choosing one path.  I am getting involved in small projects at Indwell, building relationships with politicians and leaders in the social housing sector, and working on the second of 5 courses toward my registration as a Real Estate agent (did not see that coming).  I still have no idea where I might end up but I am becoming less concerned about the destination.  And I’m OK with that.  It makes me trust more and continue to look for the subtle whispers of the Spirit that might prompt a move in one direction or the other.  And I’ve had some great conversations with a lot of smart people.