Lisa Carnley is managing editor of the Lampasas Dispatch Record. I’m hitting a milestone this year. It will be my 50th birthday. I know many women are shy about giving their age, but I’m not. I’m proud (and thankful) to have been around nearly a half-century. And it sure does beat the alternative.

I’ve lived a lot in my five decades. I’ve traveled as part of a military family, as well as on my own, and with my sister and her husband. I’ve been to places a lot of people only dream about. And I plan to go to many more.

I’ve heard people say that at 50, over half of your life is gone. I think that it’s really just beginning.

By then, most people have achieved a measure of independence and are pretty well selfsupporting. I feel fortunate to count myself among them.

Having raised my kids to be self-sufficient adults, I have been able to concentrate (mostly) on what’s best for me and for my future.

But what I don’t see is retirement. Not only will I not be able to afford to stop working, I don’t think I want to. What would I do all day? I get bored when I am at home and not working. I can’t imagine doing that full time. Most people say that is my attention deficit disorder kicking in. I find it very hard to sit still. (Thanks, Dad.)

My friends and co-workers who have retired say it is a blessing and there isn’t enough time in the day to do all they want or need to do.

I just can’t buy into that yet. Mostly because I have watched my Dad, who at nearly 77 years old, still gets up at 5 a.m. and packs his lunch in anticipation of being called to substitute teach at a high school near his home. And he does get called, sometimes as many as two or three times each week. He goes off to work with just as much enthusiasm as he did when he was in his 50s and even younger.

That’s how I want to be when I’m his age. I want to get up in the morning (that in itself will be nice) and know there is somewhere I need to be and something I need to do that will make me feel like I am still a contributing member of society -- that what I do is important. Especially because I don’t think I will ever be able to afford to retire.

Who knows if Social Security will still be around in the next 15 to 20 years. Look at what’s being done to health care and other society standards. Who knows what the future of Social Security is.

When you are in your 20s, retirement is not something you think much about, so I guess I didn’t plan accordingly. I do have a retirement account, but it fluctuates based on the economy. And when the stock market plunged several years ago, I -- like millions of others -- lost a lot of that. And it’s doubtful that when retirement-age rolls around, I will have enough built up to be able to live on in the style to which I have become accustomed -- paying the mortgage, buying groceries and other frivolities.

But the years creep up on you slowly. And before you know it, you are a parent, then a mother-in-law, then a grandparent (not necessarily in that order). And retirement age is looking back at you when you stare into the mirror.

Decisions have to be made, and sometimes you have no control over them. An employer or a health issue takes the choice out of your hands, and I’m hoping neither stops me from continuing to do what I do until I’m ready (mentally, physically and financially) to throw in the towel.

In 20 years I may decide I’ve had enough, and by then, I will have been at my job for about 45 years. That’s a long time, especially when compared to the mobile society in which we live where people can change jobs as quickly as they change toothpaste brands.

I may retire then, but I want it to be my choice; when I’m ready, and not a moment sooner.