How Much Time Do You Have Left?

By Ahsan

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”

Michael Altshuler

Ask yourself this question: If this was the last month of your life, would the thing bothering you today matter?

The human journey eventually ends. However, it is a journey full of wonder and joy, or it can be squandered in self-imposed misery. Our life journey and its quality in terms of how happy we experience it are influenced by many things, including one very non-obvious force: time.

I had the good fortune of listening to a podcast, Hidden Brain; the episode was titled "The Best Years of Your Life." This gem of an episode features Laura L. Carstensen, Professor of Psychology, Director of Stanford Center on Longevity. She had a life-altering situation at age 21 that left her in the hospital with a bleak outlook.

In short, she began to see life differently in the sense of what to put her attention to, life’s meaning, and preciousness. She went on to develop a career in psychology and academic research that continues to focus on time left in life and its impact on our mental well-being.

Everyone deserves to live a happy life and have an easier time of life. Keep reading to see how this can be achieved, and pop on the podcast if you have "time.”

You can check it out here: https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/the-best-years-of-your-life/

If you are like me, you will undoubtedly remember one or two critical points from anything you read or hear.

What stood out for me is Professor Carstensen’s observations that younger people have a sense that they have all the time in the world. A sort of "time abundance" mentality.

After all, you have your whole life ahead of you when you are young.

Young people have dreams to fulfill, goals to achieve, friends to hang out with, robust health and energy levels, no significant aches or pains, and have the world as their oyster! They ought to be the happiest campers in the campsite.

And yet this is not necessarily so.

On the other hand, older people in their senior years of life, with fewer years left to live, seem happier and more cheerful. This may seem strange to a younger person by virtue of the paradox of aging: older people are getting closer to death, physically weaker, and have fewer levels of social engagement, especially as they retire and see their friends dying.

Surprisingly, psychological health is higher in older people than in younger people.

Why might that be?

It could be that younger people tend to be more anxious, thinking about the future, while older people seem to be more present, not thinking much about the future or the past.

As Professor Carstensen says, being present tends to be very good for mental health.

In short, your time horizons shape how you think. And how you think is how you feel.

So, what are the implications?

Here is an insight: tell your younger self to act old in this respect. Get your head out of your head and be present!. Continue to make future plans and take exciting detours on your journey because life is an oyster for you. Discover the pearls and collect them on a string to admire and adorn yourself with.

Life is not a rehearsal. Live your best life with the time you have left on this earth. Don’t wait to get older to chill out.

This may be why they say “youth is wasted on the young”.

Here is my simple advice to you and me. If you are young and know that time affects your outlook on life, you could be happier and enjoy your life more. If you are older, you should recall your wonder about being younger and adopt a sense of adventure for the next week and month.

You are here for a good time, not a long time.

So, “Get old while you are young and stay young when you are old.” >> Ahsan

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