Do you ever think about how every morning you’re waking up a day closer to death?
I’m
not trying to be morbid, or even depressing. The inevitability of
life’s termination surely provides enough fodder for angsty
middle-school philosophers, but if educated adults allow ourselves to
suffer the same pitfalls, then clearly the vast fortunes we pissed away
on higher education have failed us.
So,
rather than bemoan the fact we all must die, let’s look at the
positives: we all have some number of days left to live. We can’t know
the number, so lets call it x. Tomorrow, we’re at x-1.
What
does that mean for day “x-1”? Well, it’s supply and demand. Let’s
call demand for life constant here, foregoing the examples of those who
choose to take their own. Supply has just gone down, which pushes the
price or value of the remaining days up incrementally.
So
take today, it’s a Tuesday and because it’s around 9:30am most of my
acquaintances will have pulled themselves from their beds several hours
ago, put on presentable clothes and commuted to where they sit, now, at a
desk. Those who were spared such routine are likely sound asleep for
the next few hours, until their alarms rouse them toward uniforms and
labor.
In
a world where every day of your life is more precious, is this the
right behavior? Doesn’t it leave a bitter taste that today’s toil is
incrementally more wasteful than yesterdays?
Look around. Are you happy? Are you fulfilled? Is this what you want?
Say
you wanted something that wasn’t in your current realm of physical
experience. I don’t know, you want to see Morocco or surf in Costa
Rica, maybe it's as simple as bringing someone you care about further
into your life. Every day you’re missing a bit more of your chance, and
every day the cost of your inaction grows. This is your
life, and every second is more valuable than the last. Now I don’t even
know if this is a pep-talk for you or for me, but it stands to reason
that if you want something, you ought to say “fuck it” and just go do
it.
