You’re thinking, that’s a bit of a deep question. Why is he asking me that? What business is it of his?
Well, you are absolutely right. It is no one else’s business but your own, But just think about things for a few minutes. It’s one of those questions that you will unlikely have the answer to.
Right now with the fast pace of life having been temporarily slowed down we all have a bit more time to reflect on many different facets of our otherwise busy lives. What can we improve on? What we can change altogether? Things we need to stop doing? What have we put on hold?
But where exactly are we each of us in our very busy lives? We have so much information coming at us from every angle. Our smart-phones. Don’t get me started on those..
I’ve been having a bit of a review this week. I turn 50 next year, which is a major milestone in anyone’s life. Going back a couple of centuries, 50 would have been considered a decent length of time to have been alive. Nowadays, if you die at 50, or even 60, the response will generally be “he/she was taken away far too soon”. We all expect to live to at least 80, curve balls permitting.
So, let’s break that down. Let’s say I have 80 years total in my life. No, let’s go to 85. That’s a long life by most people’s standards.
Now, the first 22 years were spent growing up and getting educated, much of it under the direction and guidance of my parents. Then I started working and have continued to do so since, albeit in a number of different roles and locations. Here we are 27 years later. I’m 49 and have approximately 36 years to go. There’s still so much more I want to do, and that’s not just in my career, but all those personal achievements. 36 years is a long time though, so what do I need to worry about.
Ok, so let’s think about this bold statement for a minute. By the time I’m 70 a lot of the more physically challenging ambitions in my life will be difficult to do – bungee jump, climb Kilimanjaro, Scuba dive to 60m and see the weird and wonderful fish that never come to the surface, fly a glider, have a go on a bobsleigh. These are all fairly physical activities, but realistically I probably won’t be doing these beyond the age of 60. Do that leaves me with 11 years, which isn’t very long in the grand scheme of things.
I realise that everyone’s situation is different, but the point I am making is this: what are the things we want to do in our very busy lives? When are we going to do them? Or are we we too busy working for a living and not taking a break to think about them.
There are no answers here, only questions. So sit back back and take a moment to ask yourself what it is you want to do with the rest of your life.
What do you want to do?