Most of us live our lives like we are never going to die. We have no sense of urgency. The truth is life is short. Recently I started meditating, I thought a lot about my death. It might be a morbid thing to think about. However, if one thing is certain in life it is death. It is surprising that we hardly ever think about it. Even talking about it is forbidden.
I thought about what I would do if I was to going to live only for another year - apart from the usual I will quit my job and travel the world, I thought of the most practical thing that I could do - Live in the moment.
If I had only one year to live, I would have far less worries about the future. I would make an effort to stay in the moment because each moment will become that much more precious.
Perception of time
When I think about my teenage years, they seem long and eventful. As I grow older, time goes by faster.
When I was younger I thought there was going to be so much more time to do all the things that I want to do. But the truth is far from it. Time is very limited.
My close friends stay out of the country and if I'm lucky I might get to see them once a year. This means in the next 20 years, I might get to see them 20 times - optimistically speaking. Twenty is not a lot - when I get the chance I should live in the moment and be completely present with them.
Even in life, when we think we have 30-40 years to live, we actually don't have that long. Half of our time is spent sleeping and working. A quarter has to be spent taking care of chores, eating, bathing, driving etc. The actual time where we are free and get to do what we want is awfully short.
Slow Down Time
Unless science finds a way to prolong our lifespan, we have only one option - to make the most use of the time we have. Since we cannot live longer, we need to make it seem like time is moving slowly.
We should spend less time avoiding life and more time being completely present in it.
We need to get out of our heads and into the world. We need to make more memories, try different things, talk to our friends and family and not take the little things for granted.
It may seem paradoxical but we need to develop a sense of urgency and at the same time slow down. We need to be restless about things like - building that business or writing that book. We need to be slow when we spend time with our loved ones, rejoicing every second we get with them.
Next time we find the days and weeks slipping by, let's take a moment to slow things down.
References:
Life is Short - An essay by Paul Graham
Perception of time - a visual journey