Reflections on Retirement in Year One: Happiness Favors a Prepared Mind

It was December 1854, French chemist Louis Pasteur, dean of the faculty of sciences at the University of Lille, stated a famous quote, "Chance favors the prepared mind." What does that really mean? Simply put, the better prepared you are, the more likely you can take advantage of new opportunities. Pasteur was a genius who developed vaccines for anthrax and rabies and created the process of pasteurization.

Although the future of medicine is not our destiny, the concept of being prepared for ...