Our Share of Time

How long do you think the world has been in existence? Plus or minus, 4.54 billion years old, based on radiometric dating of rocks and meteorites. We don't really know long, it could be more than that. Another question, how many humans have ever lived on the Earth? I mean humanity today plus humanity's passed. 110 billion people, estimate. One last question, what's the average human life expectancy? Around 73 years. But, if I would rephrase the question and ask about the average age at death for all humans who have ever lived, that would be between 30 to 40 years of age.

Here's my point: assuming the time for our world's existence is 10 billion years, and we, humans, roughly get about 30 to 100 years to live (if we take our health seriously), then it proves that we only have a portion of time. And it's fascinating to think about what we choose to do with our portion of time. In 2099, I doubt if you and I will still be around here; but what would it matter? What would we do with our portion of time?

Have you seen the movie Chernobyl? It's an HBO miniseries about the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Soviet Ukraine. It is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history, which released vast amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Due to exposure to radioactive radiation, workers and firefighters died gruesome deaths from suffering horrific radiation burns. Even the members of the recovery team had their lives cut short to 5 years, from the day they were deployed to the location. Till today, the city of Pripyat and neighbouring exclusion zones are still uninhabitable, because the half-life of the contaminating radioactive materials is about 30,000 years. That means, it's after that number of years it'll be safe to live within Pripyat: the nuclear station, surrounding environment and clothing are still emanating strong radioactive radiation, even today.

Again, here's my point: Anything can interrupt our lives - if we're careless. And humanity's best excuse is, "It can't happen to me." I used to preach that I can't die like a chicken. But you don't have to be a chicken to die anyhow, you just have to be a little careless: eat rubbish; neglect good health hygiene, sleep, exercise etc.

Regardless, make good use of your portion of time. You want to feel you'll live for a thousand years, but you won't. So, make your life count for something meaningful - whatever that might be for you.

I apologize for being, somewhat, rough-hewn. Sometimes we need a dose of reverse motivation. Keep building. Take care.