Time of our Lives
It seems fitting that today I would write about Time and Life. Over the past few days, I’ve been reading the Scientific American’s Special Edition on “Time.” The magazine covers various topics related to time- Time Travel (very interesting stuff,) Biological Clocks, Mortality Countdown, Neurological Chronology, History of Time Pieces… and the list goes on. All of the articles were interesting and my favourites were the ones related to Time Travel and Neurological Chronology. However, for this blog I want to write about the Mortality Countdown.
While I was reading about the Mortality Countdown I was brought back to the reality of my own mortality. I haven’t really given death too much thought lately as I’ve had other things to worry about. But being reminded of the cap on how many times your cells divide and how long they last after that point really made me think about the obvious- every day I am getting closer to death. One day my heart will stop beating and I only hope that in the moment before that happens I can look back and be satisfied with what I have done with my life.
I bring this up today because today is the birthday of someone I once knew. The last time I spoke with him we were talking about his plans for his future, the courses he planned on taking in school and the general things he wanted to do with his life. Last year right before his 20th birthday a car accident ended his life.
Life is short. Even if you do live until you’re 100. There are so many things to learn, to experience, to see and to do in each stage of life that even a few lifetimes would not be enough. But instead of focusing on the time I don’t have, I need to constantly remind myself to focus on the here and now. There is not enough time to regret the past and there is not enough time for me to worry about a future that I am not even sure of. As long as I make sure to use my time right now well, I know when my last moment arrives, I can look back and be satisfied.
