Today is day 12,707 of my life. Assuming I live to my mid-80s, more than 40% of my days are already spent. But my primary concern is using my remaining time well.
Counting your remaining days—can be a helpful way to reflect. Many of us struggle to accurately gauge what we can accomplish in a day, a year, or even a decade. It’s a good reminder that our time is short, so we should focus on meaningful work.
In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius writes:
If then, whatever the time may be when thou shalt be near to thy departure, neglecting everything else thou shalt respect only thy ruling faculty and the divinity within thee, and if thou shalt be afraid not because thou must some time cease to live, but if thou shalt fear never to have begun to live according to nature—then thou wilt be a man worthy of the universe which has produced thee, and thou wilt cease to be a stranger in thy native land, and to wonder at things which happen daily as if they were something unexpected, and to be dependent on this or that.
(M. Aur. Med. 12.1)
The real tragedy is not that our time is finite, but that we delay living as we ought—aligning ourselves with truth, virtue, and duty. If we continually wait for the “right time” to pursue what truly matters, we risk never beginning at all.
Instead of fearing the end, we should fear living without purpose. By embracing the present moment and devoting ourselves to the work given to us—without attachment to results and grounded in the deep assurance that we are fulfilling our place in Christ’s design.
The duty is ours; the results are God’s. Our time is short; let us get to work.
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