Your Life in Weeks
“How did it get so late so soon?”
― Dr. Seuss
FOUR THOUSAND Weeks.
Do you know what FOUR THOUSAND weeks equates to? Thanks to Oliver Burkeman and his book Four Thousand Weeks, Time Management for Mortals, I now know FOUR THOUSAND weeks is roughly the amount of time we have to experience life here, on this mortal plain. Einstein declared that time is relative, and I would add that our perception of time changes what it means to us.
Does something a month away seem far off, but 30 days seems closer? Does two years feel shorter than 730 days, but six months seems longer than 180 days? Technically these comparisons are the same amount of time, but depending on how we look at it, the feeling around time changes. When Burkeman, put the average lifespan into weeks instead of years, it created a sense of urgency.
The biggest point Burkeman makes, is that we as humans have the amazing capability to imagine an infinite number of activities, adventures and experiences and yet, we have a finite amount of time. To fantasize about what you want to do, who you want to be, and what you want to create only to then realize there is no way you’ll be able to do it all.
Don’t believe me? Think that you can be it all, do it all and create it all? Think again. Your decision to get married, means you will decline other potential romantic relationships (hopefully). Your acceptance of a job offer, means you’re declining other current career opportunities. With every decision you make, you are choosing one thing over another. Saying yes to one thing will inevitably mean saying no to something else. With a finite amount of time to experience everything you wish to, any time spent in indecision is time taken away from doing what it is you will finally choose to do.
Allow yourself to pause and really absorb this: your time here is finite, and every yes is also a no. Feeling a little disturbed from this realization? At first, when I had finally been able to accept these truths, I felt like I crashed into a brick wall that had been in front of me all along. I wanted to keep on going as I had been, but when faced with universal truths, acceptance and surrender are usually the best options. Now ask yourself, “what are you going to do with this new truth?”.
Will you try to ignore it? Will you let it bring you down wasting even more time? Or, will you use it to your advantage? Will you start accepting you’ll never be able to do everything, and put more energy into the things that really matter to you? Will stop wasting time in indecision, opting to live with your decisions rather than only thinking about them? Will you spend less time in fear, guilt, shame, blame, doubt, anger and judgement, realizing those emotions are not worth your precious time? Will your health matter a little more? How will you spend your weeks? What will be worth your time?
There are few guarantees in this mortal life, but the end of it is one of them. Make it matter and live while you can, your clock is ticking.