It's odd that the subject of "how to spend our time if we only have a year left" came up just now as it's something which I have been discussing elsewhere. I think that some people probably always have an innate sense that time is ticking away. To those people, I think that they may never lose sight of the importance of every moment and action. For others, the clock doesn't start to tick audibly until they are in their later years, or until some event has happened to change their focus (death of a close friend or family member, a life-threatening illness or "close call" accident).
In my own case, I think I've always had a very good grasp of the tenuous nature of life. Consequently, I don't think I've put a lot of things off too much, especially not in recent years.
I have a feeling that it is the people who feel that they are going to live forever who may have the most regrets. When you talk to older people, or people who are terminally ill, it's interesting to listen to what they have to say about how they spent the best parts of their lives. Very few seem to regret the times when they just took off and "did something" that they always wanted to do. What kind of regret could you have about that? "I'm sorry I finally went and did what I always wanted to do! That was a stupid mistake!!"
I can't really imagine someone ever saying that. However, I have heard people say that they were sorry that they didn't spend more time with their families, or that they felt they needed to work more hours, when in reality, nobody at their company really cared how much or how hard they worked. Spending time with aging parents, friends, relatives, always seems like something that there will be time for "later". Unfortunately, there often isn't any "later", or suddenly, you realize that that person is now too old to do the things you thought you would be able to do with them. I'm kicking my own ass about a few of those kinds of things right now as a matter of fact.
We have to realize that this applies to our own lives too. On Sunday, when Mr. Croc and I were hiking through Frontenac Park, we were talking about how much we enjoy being out in the wilderness, and that it is NOW that we need to be doing as much of this as we can and not in 10 or 15 years because, quite frankly, if we haven't dropped dead from cancer or some other disease, we probably won't be able to scale hillsides and walk for hours... in fact, I'm quite sure of that.
This crazy society that we live in now, places so much emphasis on the "retirement years" and the big money that we will need to accumulate to live well and enjoy our Golden Years. To me, this is one of the worst deceptions of our time.... This fiction in which we will be in great shape, travelling the world, hiking up mountains, and not having to worry about our finances because we busted out cans off saving for our Golden Years. Gimme a break!! Better to spend the time with our kids, friends, spouses, doing the things that we enjoy while we have the kind of energy and health that makes almost anything possible. That's the time to be making the memories on which we will be sustained when we can barely make it out to the end of the laneway with the garbage can once a week. I know this is going to sound terribly gloomy, but hell, if nothing else, I'm a practical person and have a good set of eyes that have shown me time and time again how this story goes.
I guess that's not an answer to what I would do though, is it? Basically, I would do exactly what I am doing which is to make sure that each week includes at least a couple of pretty amazing experiences -- for me, that means tripping off somewhere in the wilderness, which is exactly how Mr. Croc and I spend our spare time. For us, a day spent in the forest or on a river is like a week... in fact, it's more like a month, for the long term memories that it provides. Each person has to find their own "thing" that does that for them, and then make time for that thing, whether it is playing with their kids, going to a play or concert, or working on their car out in the garage.
Kinda preachy sounding, aren't I? (o: |
