The most important number in your life

Get out a piece of paper, a journal or a notebook and a pen. Take the number of years you have lived so far, multiply it by 12, then by 52 and then again by 7. Now subtract this number from 21,000.

If you were me, and you had already been graced 30+ years on this planet, your numbers would look something like this; 21,000 – 11,865 = 9,135.

This final number is of great importance to you. You should write it down in bold, somewhere you can see it every day. This is how many days you have left, should be one of the lucky ones that get to live out their years into old age. No one ones when their time will come, and you may be struck down next week, next month or in just 3 years, so note while this number is important to you, there is no certainty in it. What’s good to point out is that this is the best-case scenario. 9135 days. That’s it. Not to mention how the hands of fate can often lay waste your final years, who knows if you will be able to appreciate the last 3000 days of your life, you may not have the capacity to do so.

Now take this number, and start to whittle it down to the bones. You’ve got to sleep, you’ve got to work, you’ve got to eat and travel and pay your bills and do taxes and listen to your boss whine on about profit margins and your step mum drone about calendulas. You’ve got visits to doctors, dentists, lawyers and psychologists. Birthday parties, house-warming gatherings, business trips and airport delays. You have to clean your house, mow the lawn, trim your nose hair, shine your shoes and move your savings around for the best interest rate. You’ve got to worry about insignificant minutia from head to toe and all around you. Now how many days do you have left?

You’ve got dreams to dream, goals to accomplish, adventures to be beholden and you have but the smallest fraction of time to do so. I can only begin to imagine the number of things you want to do, but alas, as the ticking hand tocks ever so quicker towards your final hour, you will all but realize there is very little you can do, and a whole lot more that you cannot. As these glorious and previous days slip by like sand in an hourglass moving from one chamber to the next, for some strange reason they will also speed up. Ask anyone above your age, they will tell you the years go by faster with each new year as if a cruel trick is being played on you.

But is it cruel? Do we live short lives, or do we live lives short of substance? In fact, we are given plenty of time, but squander it on the frivolous and meaningless. How many days, weeks, months and even years have you waited to do that which you have always wanted to do? How many hours have you lived in quiet desperation between the world of to-do and not to do? How much of this precious time have you given to others? How much have you traded these priceless moments for money or possessions?

A certain amount of time will be squandered, that is a given. But you need not wait or rush about doing idle things for the sake of them just to fill in the gaps. Take into full consideration all that you will never get back, look at what you have and make the best use of it. Do not be afraid to take chances, and do not worry about the outcomes of the pursuit of your dreams. Worry more about the time wasted in hesitation unsure if you have what it takes to do what you think will bring you the greatest satisfaction.

Banish anxiety with the reminder that soon you will be gone, and so will everyone around you, and only a short time after that both you and all you loved will be long forgotten. Generations to come will not think of you, will not care about your concerns or what you achieved, and will not weep for your loss or rejoice in your accomplishments. Reduce your concerns to what they are, passing thoughts with little weight. Feel the anticipation to move towards your dreams and take action. You are not getting any younger and are letting opportunities pass you by that one day in the future you will only wish to have held on to. There is nothing on this earth that can reduce you to pieces if you remember these facts and hold on to your morals.

Be kind to others and forgive in an instant because time is slipping away and there is no point in holding on to your own grief for a moment longer. Let go of your hatred and selfishness and work with haste to make use of your time serving others and yourself. Count the days down often, contemplate how little time you have left and think about the inevitable death that hangs over you. Do the right thing, not tomorrow, not next week or next year, do it now. No matter if you are tired, or scared, or anxious or upset. Keep it simple, and do the right thing.