ED DAMES
This June, I’ll turn 67.
On many occasions, I’ve been asked by well-meaning friends when will I retire. To which my ready answer is: when I’m dead.
To lighten up the mood, I would often add this little explanation: “Normal people retire when they reach a certain age. Some people, myself included, don’t retire. We just REFIRE.”
I started working immediately after I finished college in 1980. This means I’ve been working for 46 years straight.
These 46 years have been divided into:
3 years in government service; 25 years in advertising, with three of the country’s biggest ad agencies: Basic/FCB, McCann-Erickson and Leo Burnett, playing different roles as Copywriter, Corporate Communications Head, Events & Sport Marketing Director; and the last 18 years as the Founding CEO of DTC, one of the leading Events & Activations company in the Philippines handling multi-national clients like Unilever.
With my partner, Marisse, since college who also happens to be my wife as COO, I now spend 80% of my time doing ministry work (as an Elder of Greenhills Christian Fellowship, a megachurch, involved in the Seniors, Widows, and Sports Ministries). At GCF, I also started an all-male band called, the Bond of Brothers composed of Elders and Pastors. In addition, I’m also active in community engagement as President of the Sillimanians in Metro Manila, the biggest alumni chapter of our our alma mater, Silliman University.
From all these engagements, I have learned five important things:
One, an investment in fitness and sports at an earlier age is important in being able to sustain an active lifestyle in our later years. Thank God, I don’t take any maintenance meds, only multi-vitamins.
Two, moderation is key to longevity. As a flip side to my love for sports, I suffered from injuries including ACL in both knees due to heavy lifting and road-running, tendonitis in my shoulder and elbow from Muaythai training. With the help of my bone doc, I’ve modified my workouts to minimize injuries.
Three, walking is better than running. When I was into competitive running, I sneezed at walkers. Now, I love walking with my wife every morning. And I’ve made many friends from other walkers, mostly fellow seniors including expats.
Four, there’s no such thing as secular and spiritual. Every activity can be a ministry. The PingPong Ministry I started in 2018 has grown to over a hundred active members of all ages that meet twice a week for fun matches plus prayer time and devotion. And recently, we’ve started a Pickleball Ministry!
Five, music is a great way to connect. The Bond of Brothers which I started in 2013 has contributed to our music ministry with our distinct sound inspired by The Gaither Vocal Band (all our members used to perform in college and most of us play a musical instrument).
During our Saturday fellowship, we’ve jammed with other leaders from other faith. As seniors, we’re blessed to have reached an age of wisdom, after learning from the many mistakes we’ve made in the past. It’s our calling to share these learnings with anyone who’s willing to listen starting with our grandkids. Our most powerful testimony is not our talk but our walk.
May we continue to live out the faith we profess and shine His light wherever we are until Jesus returns or until He calls us home.