Why Life Is Like a Time Bomb
…and how that bomb can give us the courage to chase our dreams.
Imagine you’ve just attended a high school reunion, and the party was nothing short of awesome. Streamers were flying, you were dancing like a maniac and the music was going full blast. In fact, you can still hear it ringing in your ears two hours later as you grasp the steering wheel, halfway down the familiar road back home.
You let out a sigh of satisfaction, thinking of the love of your life and the three little kids eagerly awaiting your return. Maybe they’re already asleep, cuddled up in the cozy burrow the five of you call home.
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough — you’re expecting a pay rise. The head of your department seems rather pleased with your latest project, and he’s been giving not-too-subtle hints about it for three weeks now.
It’s the life anyone would hope for. The question is: will it last?
As you approach your neighborhood, you open the windows to enjoy a little fresh air. But instead of the usual, refreshing night breeze, there’s a weird smell in the air. The smell of smoke.
Peering into the darkness, you can make out miniature tongues of flame leaping into the sky. Your mouth drops open in horror as you see an ominous dark cloud rising like a column of doom- straight from the direction of your house.
The Illusion of Stability
When we’ve finally achieved stability and success in our lives, it’s all too easy to come to the conclusion that everything’s in control.
It couldn’t be further from the truth — our lives could come crashing down at any moment.
I’m deeply unsettled by that. My life is far from perfect, but it’s one that I’m definitely satisfied with. I’m surrounded by loving parents, doing fine at school and even with a busy schedule I’m managing to find time to do the things I love. Writing on Medium’s one of them.
With this peaceful life comes a realization that all of it could be snuffed out in a heartbeat. It doesn’t take something quite as exotic as a meteor strike or World War III, mundane everyday events would be more than enough.
Okay, you might say I’m paranoid.
A simple search on Google will tell us that 80–90% of the negative things we worry about never come true. Indeed, we spend too much time ruminating about unfounded fears. In one of my articles, I touched upon this:
“We worry about disastrous events far more likely than we should. Countless scenarios which could end in bankruptcy, divorce or the loss of loved ones keep playing in our minds.”
“Most of them turn out to be nonsense.”
But this time, I’m not talking about our excessive worries on worst-case scenarios that never happen. It’s about how easily our lives can be thrown off balance by events that lie completely outside our control.
Note that I said “easily”, not “likely”. It doesn’t pay to be in a constant state of anxiety over these things.
Yet, I’m writing this article because in 15 short years I’ve seen stuff like that happen. Those aren’t tragedies that we see in the morning newspaper going along the lines of:
“Saturday, July 15- Several injured in an accident at a high risk T-junction north of town. Authorities have reported only 1 fatality- sources close to the victim have declined to comment.”
That, my friends is the typical, ultra-formal news report. I cringe every time I see one. Someone actually died! How could you treat it like you would with a projected company growth rate of 3% in the next quarter?
No, it’s not that. I’ve seen people all around me — ones I’ve actually known, succumb to the same fate. They’re not strangers; not too long ago we were shaking hands and laughing, now I’ll never see them again.
They were living, breathing people whose lives were just as important as my own. They had their fair share of experiences and memories to share. But for them, everything has come to a tragic end.
I’ve seen healthy people obsessed with exercise and their diet diagnosed with cancer. They’re no longer around.
I’ve seen horrific accidents happen to careful and law-abiding citizens. The last one happened not too long ago.
Lightning does more than illuminating the sky; it takes lives. It happened to someone I knew.
I’ve learned that the root of all worry stems not from imminent disaster, but a realization that we’re all deeply vulnerable. Small things such as rejection and failure to achieve our goals hurt, but we can cope with that.
Mistakes aren’t tragedies — they teach us valuable life lessons and each time we fall, we get up a little stronger, more ready to face the harshness of the world. As they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
But what if it kills you? What if you’re never given the chance to right what you’ve wronged?
Things we’ve fought to attain and people we live our very lives to protect could be gone in the blink of an eye. We can do nothing more than stare helplessly, accept it as a part of life, and move on. Unless, of course, the very same thing happens to us tomorrow.
When we think of it from this perspective, it’s hard to not be a little scared. People worry because they don’t know IF and WHEN something terrible will happen to them.
Quoting H.P. Lovecraft, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
Now, Ask Yourself…
Why should I even care?!
The chances of all of us dying is 100%. So what?
The only reason we act on our dreams is the realization that our lives are precariously perched on the edge of a cliff. If I had a million years to live, I wouldn’t be making these posts twice a week. I would be writing one paragraph every year.
I admit, I frequently worry about the future. Worries that I’m better off not having, but things are always easier said than done. It’s hard to get over them. Nevertheless, I’ve learned to tell myself I will NOT let them control how I live my life.
By adopting this mindset, statistics will be on my side. The average human lifespan is 70 years. But when I act like every day is my last, I will achieve more than 700, or even 7000 years of idleness.
I’ve fulfilled my dreams on the awareness that my time is limited. A ticking time bomb is what drives me to do what I’ve always wanted to do. Life might get in the way and stop me from accomplishing my goals in time, but at least I can say I tried.
We should all live every day to the fullest and enjoy the wonders that many others take for granted. Only a fool would fail to savor such an opportunity, petrified on the spot with uncertainty of the future.
We might not be in control of our lives, and a tragedy might just be around the corner — but we are utterly in control of how we choose to spend our lives. Let’s not squander it.
Here’s my final confession: I fear death, but that is not what I fear most. My greatest fear is a life unlived.
Make your life worth living.
