30,000 Days

Most of us have 30,000 days – give or take – to live this life we are given.

How many of those 30,000 days do you remember? How many moments can you recall with vivid detail? Only so many days imprint themselves upon your soul in ways that change you forever. Some go with you as a life sentence; some as a life accomplishment. Each day and each day's labors build upon each other. Each day's accomplishments or transgressions building upon the next.

When I was a little kid, perhaps 3 or 4, I remember living in this old white house with no heat upstairs and black widow spiders in the basement. It came equipped with a bathroom just off of the kitchen. There was a huge bathtub but no shower, and as kids do, I would play in the tub until my fingers were wrinkled. Squeezing my fingers together so tightly, I would attempt to hold water in my hand for as long as I could. As much as I tried, I couldn’t squeeze my fingers tightly enough together to stop the bathwater from slipping through. Like the water in my little cupped hand, my days slip from my fingers regardless of how much I wish that wasn’t the case. All I can really do is squeeze as much life as possible from each day I am granted.

Age gives me perspective in ways that nothing else has. That I only have so much time left in this life. Only so many sunny days, warm rains, and snowfalls to enjoy. AND only so many days left to make a difference, do something beyond the ordinary, and leave this world in some way better than when I entered it. How will I conduct my life? How will I treat myself? How will I treat my family and my friends, and how will I treat my enemies?

Don’t spend your days walking with old ghosts as if the world owes you something. Stop holding the world in contempt if you find that you are. Your reward is being here. Your reward is this life, and the chance to positively impact those around you. Allow yourself the chance to stumble into amazing moments, and when you find yourself in one just remember to take time to enjoy it too. Create and share those moments with others. We, each of us, are accountable to the tools and the soul that our creator gave us. You are accountable for the work it takes to produce a good life.

Save nothing for the next life