Fourteen and Counting

I have started my countdown to death. That's right, measuring the time until I die. I know that will seem weird to most, if not all, of you, but hear me out before you make a judgment.

I am about 55.5 years old. I saw on the internet the other day that the average life expectancy for an American male is 69.5. I know, I thought it was older too, and probably some sources of data suggest that it is, but this is what I found at this one particular source. That means, on an average, I have 14 years left to live. Of course I could die tomorrow, or I might live to be 120 years old, but statistically I have 14 years.

Some would think that is a morbid way of thinking. Some might feel it is a very negative way to think, a very pessimistic perspective. WRONG! You are all wrong! This thought process, for me, is a celebration of life. Think about it; rather than taking life for granted or squandering it away with pointless worries, I am very aware of the blessings I have and the knowledge that they won't last forever allows me to truly appreciate every moment.

Here's a scenario that I find interesting. My boss calls me in and assigns me a project. A big project that will require massive overtime and undoubtedly be highly stressful. This project is expected to last about one year. Normally I would say, sure, I'll do it, and start this dreaded task. Now, however, I have a means of measuring the value of my time. Let's see, one year is about 7% of my life. Is that worth it? Naw, I'll take a pass.

This works great with everything. Two weeks is about .3% of my life. Sure, it doesn't sound like much, but it all adds up. My family wants to go on a two week vacation. That's great! Then I find out they want to go to Disney World. That's .3% of my life in Disney World. No thanks.

Decisions start to become quite easy because I am always focused on what is important. I can more easily assess spending time on things of little or no value. This is great! Like I said, it's not morbid at all. It is truly a celebration of life!

Let's see, it took me twenty minutes to write this, that's about . . . .