War Cry - September 1, 2012 Page 19

The War Cry | September 1, 2012

Sitting in his cozy conservatory, David Winter is
clearly enjoying his retirement. But when speaking
with him, "retired" is not the first word to spring to
mind. "Fulfilled" seems a better description.

"I've enjoyed my retirement, especially the past

11 years of it," says the author of

The Highway Code

for Retirement. "I have a routine. I write in the morn-
ings, do some household chores, a bit of shopping,
then go out or watch TV in the evenings. I like to go
to the theater and to watch soccer matches."

But retirement isn't always easy. Many people

struggle with the idea.

"Retirement often takes people by surprise," David

explains. People have one of two thoughts about it.
Some think it will be absolutely wonderful, and that
they can go off on endless holidays and see all the
places they want to. But even holidays can get boring
after a couple of weeks, and retirement doesn't quite
work out like that for most people anyway.

"Others think it will be absolutely awful, because

there will be nothing to do and they will become a
nobody. Well, that isn't true either, because every-
body is a retired "something," whether it's a retired
banker or a retired district nurse.

"Retirement is all about how you approach it."
David is eager to dispel one negative attitude

about retirement.

"Sometimes people think of retirement as a ter-

minus, the end of the journey. In fact, it's more like
a junction," he says.

"Retirement is simply part of a journey. You are

still the same person, you still have the same friends,
you probably still live in the same house. All you
have done is changed trains."

David knows more about the journey than many

people--after all, he made three attempts at retire-
ment. First, he retired from his position as head of
religious broadcasting at the British Broadcasting
Company (BBC) in 1989. "The BBC retires you at 60
anyway, so I took slightly early retirement," he says.

But work was not quite over for David. During

his time at the BBC, he had entered training to be-
come a minister for the Church of England. He had
"plenty of energy for a new job" and decided to become
the vicar of a country parish. "I enjoyed being in a
church ministry; it was more fulfilling for me than
producing TV," he enthuses.

When he reached the age of retirement for the

clergy, David moved on to a part�time clergy job. An-

other five years passed before he finally called it a day.

Now he enjoys his retirement not only by resting

but also by writing, something he has been doing for
decades. After studying English in college, David be-
came a teacher. While teaching, he began contribut-
ing articles to a Christian magazine. In 1959, he
gave up teaching to edit the magazine.

He continued writing during his subsequent

years in broadcasting and church ministry.

The High-

way Code for Retirement, a practical and spiritual
guide for people who are about to retire or have al-
ready done so, is his 41st book.

"I gladly wrote it when asked, because I do know

what it's like to be retired," he says.

"In the book I tell a lot of stories about people I

know well and have encountered. I've realized that
it's good to have interests to keep you going right up
until the last minute.

"A lot of people are so busy in their working lives

that they haven't got any other interests. Most of

their friends are at work. So when the job ends, their
life does too."

David believes that the best way to avoid such a

trap is by planning, financially and physically. He
suggests finding interests that can still be enjoyed
after retirement such as gardening, cooking, golf,
walking, caring for a pet, going to the theater or
making music. He says it's important to be positive
about retirement and not see it as a disaster.

David credits his Christian faith with helping

him enormously in retirement. "In the book I talk
about the three Fs: faith, family and friends. Faith
helps you through all of life, not
just retirement. It helped me
most when my first wife, Chris-
tine, died. She died the year I
retired. That could have blown
a hole in my life, but family and
friends, knowing that God was
with me and having a church
community helped me amaz-
ingly. Every retired person
knows that somewhere down
the line they will reach the end
of their own journey. The best
way to come to terms with that
end is to have a living faith in
God and in Christ."

You are still the same person . . . all you've done is change trains.

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