“Existence is no more than the precarious attainment of relevance in an intensely mobile flux of past, present, and future.”

–Susan Sontag, American writer

Even the casual follower of the NFL probably knows the name, “Brock Purdy.” Notwithstanding a stellar career at Iowa State, he was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the last pick in the 2022 NFL draft, renowned for the dubious distinction of “Mr. Irrelevant.”

Apparently, this twenty-two-year-old didn’t get the memo. He began his career as the third-string quarterback but, through a series of injuries, found himself starting. All he’s done is take his team to two division titles and one NFC championship game, earning Pro Bowl honors along the way.

I don’t know Purdy, but I suspect he dreamed of such a story but never thought it could happen … or maybe he believed in himself, put his nose to the grind, and was rewarded by his effort. Suddenly, he was anything but irrelevant.

His story is the stuff of fairy tales. But what about the rest of us? Most of us don’t worry about relevance, especially in our late teens or early twenties. We’re busy thinking about academics, career options, marriage, and family. We get busy with degrees to complete, job applications, mouths to feed, bills to pay, and mortgages to satisfy.

Gradually, life slows. The kids grow up, our nests empty, and eventually we retire. That’s when the questions surface: Was what I did relevant? For what will I be remembered? Will I be remembered at all?

Personally, today I could walk into the medical practice I helped found and hardly anyone would know who I am; and that’s okay. Perhaps that’s the case with you too. If so, are you okay with that? I hope so, because that’s reality. Life moves on, just as we need to.

What we learn retrospectively is it wasn’t our job description that mattered, it was our job performance. Whether you operated on human brains or operated a jackhammer, what really impacted others and made you relevant was the quality of your work. Did you give that surgery or that construction project your best effort?

But retirement … what now? How do we matter to anyone? How do we remain relevant? Through new adventures: volunteering; a part-time job doing something you’ve always wanted to do, but didn’t have time for; mentoring others. Each of us has a vast experience in whatever career we chose and we can pass on our knowledge to younger people.

We’ve also learned a lot about life/work balance; we lived it, perhaps imperfectly, even before it became a “thing.” The academic award assemblies, school concerts, athletic performances, birthday parties, and graduations we missed because we were “too busy,” we can be sure not to miss for our grandchildren. As Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success in life is just showing up.”

Finally, we remain relevant through our communities of choice: civic organizations, places of worship, book clubs, lunch dates, golf foursomes–the list goes on and on. The worst thing we can do in our older years is sit at home, on the couch, watching television or reading a book, to the point that we’re not engaged in life. Having lost the collegiality of co-workers, we need friends now more than ever.

Look for causes to join and places to engage. Retirement communities are tailor-made for forming friendships and getting engaged in activities. It’s no wonder there are waiting lists for folks to get into them. Most of us won’t throw a football like Brock Purdy, but we can throw together an outing, party, or foursome for dinner.

When we leave this earth, our relevance won’t be measured by the work we did or the money we accrued, but by the family and friends we left behind and the impact we had on each and every one of them.

What could be more important?