Welcome to The Soul Podcast. I’m Stacey Wheeler.
When I was in high school, I read that that the average age men live to in the US was 77 and the average
age for women was 78. I remember thinking, that’s pretty good. I also remember having the hopeful
thought, “But I’ll live longer than that.”
New stats from the CDC last year showed a revised age for current life expectancy. And it’s gone down.
The average life expectancy in the western world today is 76.4 years. If you break that down to number
of days, we’ll live. It’s 27,886 days. That’s how many days are in the average human life. If you’re like
most people, you have one of a few immediate thoughts when you hear these numbers.
Either…
1. That’s a long way off. (because you’re young)
or
2. I’ll live longer than that. (because you’re past the halfway mark)
Welcome to human nature. No matter how jaded a person is, we’re all reflexively optimistic about
Not dying.
So, 27,886 days to live. Doesn’t seem like much.
That’s of course, from the day we’re born. I invite you to think of it like this; from the day we’re born we
start with about 27,886 days in the bank (some more, some less… but about that amount -on average).
Each day we have one less day in the bank. Eventually (and usually without warning) our bank of days is
empty. We’ve used them all up.
As an exercise in appreciation, let’s look at that a little closer. Try and find yourself on the scale of days
remaining.
Here we go...
If you’re 19 years old, you’ve already spent ¼ of our life. It’s gone. And you have about 21,000 days left.
So, if you’re at 38 years old -you’ve spent half of your days. You have less than 14,000 days left.
And if you’re 57 you’re at the ¾ mark. You’ve got a quarter of your days left. That’s around 7,500
days you have left to play, to laugh and to make new memories.
Victor Hugo said, “Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age.”
Well, I’m on the ‘youth of old age’ side now. It’s a different perspective over here than I remember over
there…now that I’ve got less than 8,000 days remaining (give or take).
Going back to that reflexive optimism I spoke about… It seems many of us believe we’re going to live
longer than the average life expectancy. And you know, we may. There’s no way to know from here.
But if you knew for sure what the date of your death will be, would you savor these days more… the
ones you have left? Maybe?
We may live longer… we may die tomorrow. There’s no way to know. So, I use this ‘years of life’ average
as a tool. And the ‘days of life’ average makes it more tangible for me.
If I remind myself, I have around 8,000 days left to live. I may be right, or I may be wrong… but the
desired result is positive. I’m reminded what a gift each day is. I’m reminded that no days are
throwaways. This day, this moment… today is an opportunity to apply my philosophies and beliefs. To
do the things I believe life is meant for… before I’ve spent the last of the days. Before my bank of days is
empty.
There’s one thing I know for sure about death and the other side. The stuff we accumulate stays here. I
can’t take my stuff with me. If there’s anything we do take, it’s our experiences and our memories.
So, when I think of my days remaining, I remember this, and it helps me approach each day from a
better perspective. No days are throwaways.
Each day is an opportunity to figure out what this beautiful journey is about.
How many days have you got left?
What are you doing with those days?
Are you making a difference?
Are you finding meaning?
Purpose?
Are you helping others?
Are you making good memories?
We’ve all got a limited number of days...
So, I ask myself how much life are in those days?
Should I live to be 100, at some point before then my body will no longer do what it used to do. So the
days alive in the latter part of life won’t be like the days I’ve known in a young body.
Limited days. Limited ability.
And I’m reminded of what George Burns said as he approached his 100th birthday…
“You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old.”
Mark Twain had a slightly different take on aging…
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.”
Ultimately, it’s not the years. It’s what we’re doing with them.
Betty White, who lived to be 99 said this about having meaning in our years…
“Everybody needs a passion. That’s what keeps life interesting. If you live without passion, you can go
through life without leaving any footprints.”
I want to leave footprints. Good ones. Footprints others will find useful. We each have a limited number
of days to make those footprints. And I ask myself. What am I doing to put meaning in those days?
There are 27,886 days in a lifetime.
Breathe that in. Let that sit inside you somewhere. Let your calculation be in front of you. How many
days do you think you have left in the bank of days?
These are your days. What will you do with them?