Why I Think About Death A Lot
(And You Should Too)
I think about death a lot. Like, to a degree that I’m told is morbid.
In fact, I have a note at the top of my Workflowy that says “20,000,” — that’s approximate number of days that I probably have left in my life, barring accidents and crazy illnesses. And I look at it every morning, but not because I’m trying to be creepy or depressing. Instead, I find it incredibly inspiring.
It puts me in perspective in a few ways: first, it reminds me how important it is to make every single day count, because I’ve only got so many left. It forces me to really think about what I’m doing every day, and whether or not that’s getting me closer to what I want or further away.
It helps me avoid that oh-so-easy slide into complacency where I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and then wake up years later thinking “Who am I and why they hell am I living this boring life?” It’s my way of avoiding the top regrets of the dying, especially that first one: “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
It’s really easy to post #YOLO! on Twitter. It’s a lot harder to actually live like you mean it.
But it also puts me in perspective looking in the opposite direction and reminds me that whatever happens today, it’s not the end all and be all. That a bad day is just a bad day — who the hell cares, I’ve got around 19,999 more. That a disappointment, however big it seems today, is just one part of my life that’s so tiny I have to use a calculator to figure out what percentage of time it takes up. That things are always going to change, and that every day is an opportunity I have to make something new happen.
Finally, it makes me think about what I want to leave behind, because I’ve only got so long to make that happen. This is one of my main tools for thinking about whether I want to do something big or not — I think, “Do I want this to be part of my life story? Do I want this to be part of the story I leave behind?”
Still sounds morbid? Well then don’t invite me to your parties — but do figure out how you can remind yourself that living is a verb, that you have literally tens of thousands of opportunities to do something new in your life, and that you’ve only got so long to do it, because like Hunter S. Thompson said,
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
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This post was originally published on my home site right here. For more just like this, you can check out The Wrevolution or hit me up on Twitter.
