What if You live for Only One more Year?

Sometimes we can get too caught up in thinking about the future and what things could be like, that we forget to live in the present.

 

Part 1

Being a person who tends to wonder about the future and all the possibilities and “what ifs” out there, I sometimes feel overwhelmed and saddened by all the things out there in this world that I want to try, but I know I will never ever be able to, within this lifetime.

In fact, the older I get, the more the realization that there just isn’t enough time to do everything hits me.

 

When I was younger, I wanted to read all the books in the library.

That used to be my dream. But somewhere along the line, I realised that it was an impossible dream. And so now every time I step into the library and run my eyes across the rows upon rows of books in front of me, I feel excitement at the stories and knowledge in front of me, but also a slight tinge of disappointment at the fact that I will never be able to receive all of them.

As I grow older, there are even more things I want to do.

I want to spend time with family and friends. I want to make new friends and talk to more people. I want to write my blogs. I want to record my life. I want to write stories. I want to travel and see places. I want to inspire. I want to change the world.

And on a more personal scale, but which is equally important, I also want time to myself: to think, to reflect, to breath. To indulge in what life has to offer me, in each and every moment. From the drifting clouds in the blue skies on a sunny day to the bustling of a mall on a Sunday night to the calmness of a bus ride, I want to feel life.

There are many, many things I want to do, but Life is so short.

So sometimes I take on too much. Or I rush through things, trying to cram as many things as I can into a minute, trying to do many things at once, trying to ask out or accept as many invitations and events as I can.

But usually, that just leaves me feeling frazzled and burnt out.

That doesn’t let me feel life.

That doesn’t allow me to enjoy the present moment.

 

Part 2

Sometimes when looking forward into the future, I assume that I will live to 80 plus years old.

Thinking long term means that we let ourselves put up with some short-term unhappiness; because the road ahead is still long, so it seems like there are still many chances for happiness. But while sometimes we do need to suck it up and put up with some short-term unhappiness, other times we do have a choice to enjoy the present moment, and the only thing keeping us is place is the illusion that we have no choice.

But that is a mirage, with no tangibility.

We DO have a choice.

We CAN choose to have bread and jam today, for a few todays, instead of always tomorrow. In fact we should, because while we assume that the road ahead is long, no one actually knows how long it will be, even if we are young.

 

Putting it together

In the first part, I’ve talked about how life is short, and how there isn’t enough time to do everything in this world. Thus, it is important to spend it on the things that really matter, rather than trying to do everything and end up feeling burnt out.

In the second part, I talked about how the present moment is too precious to be spent putting up with unhappiness that could be otherwise prevented.

And thus, I’ve come to the theoretical question that is the title of this post:

If we imagine a situation when we have very limited time, a situation in which we are forced to consider what is really important to us, then maybe we wouldn’t waste our lives on unhappiness and on things that don’t matter.

And so

 

What if you only have one year to live?

How differently would you live?

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People make new year resolutions every year.

Because a year is a self-contained unit of time that is long enough for relatively large plans, and also short enough to feel that it is too short a period to live, if that is all the time you have.

Thus if we make a year a unit of our lives, and imagine that every year could be our last, then maybe it will be easier to discover the priorities in our lives.

Who are the important people, and who do you really want to spend time with? What do you truly enjoy doing? What makes you happy? What are your dreams and passions?

Also, does it really matter what other people think? Does it matter whether you are of the right size or right look? Does it matter whether you sound stupid or smart?

Think about this, in a time and place undisturbed by social norms and group norms.

At a time you have all to yourself, with only the silence of the surroundings and the sound of your heart song to guide you.

And when you have discovered what makes you happy and what things you will leave out of your life if you only have one year to live, go ahead and cut out what needs to be cut out. Also, go ahead and leave out all the possibilities that you don’t actually want. There will always be enticing options and possibilities in this world, and the media is always trying to get us to think we want things that we don’t actually want, deep down. But because there is only so much time, we can only choose the few things that really matter.

Once you have decided on them, go ahead and make plans and set goals for this year, to achieve and do what you’ve always wanted to do.

Of course, some goals and dreams do need more than one year to accomplish.

The aim of this thought exercise is more of to simulate thoughts on what is truly important to us rather than as an absolute rule to live life. Once we have identified the important things, set our plans in motion for one year, two years, three years, and more to come.

Do set aside time for reviews too, as what is important to us changes.

All in all, it is nice to set a yearly goal, something that really, if, let’s say if, we live only for one more year, we can look back on the year, and know that we have achieved that goal and have taken that one yearly step closer to our goal, and that we have no (fewer) regrets.