How much time do you actually have?
Hey Human,
Our brain, while capable of doing so many amazing things, is not very good at dealing the passage of time. It calculates by how many new experiences you have gained till now. That's the reason why your childhood days feel so long ago because almost all the experiences were pretty new from the get go. As you get older, you settle into a routine and a consistent hobby that you rarely gain any new experience. The older you get, the faster the years flow. So, to find out how much time you actually have left, we have to get out of your brain and look at your life from the outside.
The average life expectancy of a human is around 73 years. If you are around the same age as me, chances are you have maybe around 43 to 45 years left. You may live longer or shorter than that but let's consider the average for our assumptions. That is the number of summers, winters and monsoons you are most likely to experience for the remainder of your life. Also, that is how many times you can wish your loved ones for Christmas, Diwali, Ramadan, Birthdays, anniversaries etc.,
You might have spent almost your entire childhood with your parents. Right now, you probably moved out of your home for work or education or maybe to follow your passion. Based on the time you have left, even if you manage to see them for 2 weeks each year, plus birthdays, holidays, vacation trips and so on, you have already spent more than most of the time you will ever spend with them. The same goes for your siblings, your best buddies from school. This very little time can go even smaller if they die earlier. One day you will see them for the last time. This concept of seeing someone or experiencing something for the last time feels something you should be feeling when you are at your old age. But in reality, it happens with everything all the time.
From now until your retirement which is around the age of 65 you grind your life with work. If you are lucky enough, during this crucial time you might have found the right partner, get married, then have kids and maybe even grandkids. If you manage to save enough for retirement, you might think that you can start to enjoy your life a bit more than before. You actually have the time to pick up your old hobbies, sport, maybe even plan a few trips to visit the countries you always wanted to visit. But do you really have time at this age? Disease and the weariness of old age starts to creep up. So in a way, you worked tirelessly and saved so much only to realize that you are too old and too weak to do anything you were planning when you were young. But this is just an assumption that it all works out and you actually get to be old. Not everyone has that chance and some just make it worse.
I'm not going to talk about all the ways you could die but only the most common and preventable ones.
Still here? Good.
Since we have realized that we don't have that much time left even if we die of old age, let us make sure we actually get to be old.
One of the most common ways to die is driving. Think about it for a second, you are in a 1.5 ton metal tube zooming at around 60 km/hr. From what I've heard, it has the energy of a piano dropped from around 300 ft. Imagine that amount of energy on your car and most importantly, you. Going 10 or 15 over the limit on a highway may reduce the travel time by a few minutes on your commute. But the chances of getting in a fatal car crash has increased by 60%. This gets even worse under influence or if you're distracted. There are a lot of options to have distraction free driving on your phone, so make use of it. Get a cab next time when you go out for a drink or have a designated driver in your group This alone lets you defeat death from one of the most dangerous activities a human can do on a daily basis.
Next up on the list is tobacco. This is a much slower way to die compared to a fatal crash but a gruesome one nonetheless. First and foremost, let us be real - we have to accept the fact that smoking feels awesome. If it wasn't, there wouldn’t be at least a billion smokers in the world as of now. Unfortunately, the more you smoke, the more permanent damage it causes to your lungs and your blood vessels, increasing your chances of a heart attack or a stroke or lung cancer much earlier in life. The average smoker loses 10 years of their life, some may lose 5 and some may lose 25. This is not something you didn’t know already but then why there are still so many smokers? Often smokers are judged as unhinged or without discipline. But that's not entirely true. It is not the physical addiction that holds on to people but the psychological one. It is connected to many social structures like hanging out with colleagues, designated smoking areas at work places, even spending time with friends.
It is a difficult habit to quit but it is not impossible. There are various nicotine replacement treatments that are available in most pharmacy stores for your initial days. Let someone know about your journey so that you can feel accountable and it is never a bad thing to ask for support. Physical activities like calisthenics and or lifting weights can reduce stress levels and therefore reduces the trigger for smoking again. Create a calendar to keep track of your progress and reward yourself for small victories to keep the motivation going. I believe existing for a few more years for someone who enjoys your company is much more pleasurable experience than a puff.
The last one is something sad, very sensitive and not a lot of public discussions are happening about it, which is harming yourself. Many of you reading this are probably around 20-30 years old. Amongst all these deaths, this is the third most leading cause of death in your age group only next to accidents and homicides. This is very bad and worrisome. Usually it happens because they either had a stressful family or work environment, unstable emotional health, substance abuse, failed relationships or loneliness. These are factors that overwhelm their minds and undermine their coping strategies making them believe that there is nothing they could do to stop it and this is the best option to find a way out. It is important to know and realize that such incidents rarely happen out of the blue and are very much preventable. There are warning signs early on and these thoughts and feelings can be managed by getting professional help.
It would be so nice if someone reading this who is in a bad situation decides to get the help they deserve. You matter a lot more to us than you think, you really do, and the world is better with you in it. So please stay with us. If you are feeling overwhelmed, seeking help is not a sign of weakness. It is an act of strength straight up. If you have someone in your life going through a difficult time, show them that they are loved and assist them in getting help. You might have just saved someone.
Let's wrap up. Even with all these precautions and habits, there are still many ways you could just stop living. You could drown in a pool at age 16. You could have a random stroke at age 35. You could be a victim of a homicide at age 40. Everyday a dice is rolled for you and one day you will die. Does it mean that you shouldn't even save anything or think about future? Definitely not. It is better to be a responsible adult for your family and the society by providing as much as you can to make the world and the people around you better off . But don't trade your little moments for it.
You know the moments that I'm talking about. Is there a hobby you have been putting off for a long time? Is there a place you always wanted to visit? Is there someone you wanted to reach out to but haven’t yet? Try to recognize the good old days before you leave them. Maybe it was never about having a purpose, but it was always about the time you have left to live and the person you want to live as. Life is an incredible and delicate gift to be thrown away too quickly or cared too little. There is so much fun and amazing things to do with your life with so little time and the best part is you get to call the shots. So what are you waiting for?
And as always thanks for reading.