The Clock is Ticking: How to Live to the End

Today, my countdown clock clicked over to 3,575 weeks.

Oliver Burkeman, in his book 4000 Weeks, argues the average person lives 4,000 weeks. He does it to show how life slips through human fingers without notice.

If that is true, I know where I stand.

I retired six months ago, but it is more challenging than most people believe. What do you do with your time? How do you make a difference in your life and in the lives of people you care for? How can you do more than sit and watch mindless TV while your body wastes away from disuse?

It takes life shaking you awake to face the question, “How do I live to the end of my life?”

Recently, activity started sizzling in the street in front of our home. First came the ambulance and firetruck. They entered the house but left. Three police cars took up their sentry after emergency services left. People began showing up, walking to the house in confused steps. It was clear someone called and told them to come. Bowed heads exuded anxiety.

Soon, the crime scene unit arrived. Was there a murder? A suicide? What was going on? After about an hour, it left, and a black SUV replaced it. It became clear from the markings what had happened.

A gurney rolled down the driveway with a shrouded body and pushed into the SUV.

Our neighbor had died suddenly. She was only about four years older than we were.

What do you think about those moments?

Sorrow for the family and the shock they go through? If you have been through a sudden death, you know the feeling.

But something else tugs at your soul. It is a voice whispering into your ear.

“That could be you.”

Growing older is mandatory, but being old is optional.

I have known men in their 50s who shook their fists at life. They soured and became old far before their years. I have also known people in their 80s afflicted with a myriad of physical ailments who exuded joy every day.

So, how do we age without getting old?

The question has dogged me since the day I shut the door to my office and locked the door.

Blogs started as an online diary of a sort. For a few weeks, I want to go back to that form to “work out” my thoughts about the problem of making the passing years more meaningful.

If you are above 60, you will feel it. If you are younger, start asking now. Some day it will be your question.

So, how do you live to the end of your life?