The passing of another year and another birthday rumination post. (2016 was the last one, featuring Chris Rock.)
I was fortunate this summer to spend a lot of time with our family on a road trip across much of the United States, with lots of stops to visit friends and family. It was great to mostly unplug and see some of the country that was new to us. I celebrated a birthday during the trip which was appropriate given some recent thinking about my likely life duration.
Thanks to our friends at Social Security it’s easy to get an estimate of how long you have to live. This simple table lets you look at your age and see how many years you likely have left. I’m sitting at 36 so most likely have 42 years remaining – expiring around 78 years of age. Not too bad.
If I’m lucky enough to have good health and my mental faculties for most of the remaining time, say until 70, that leaves 34 years of good health to enjoy friends, family, and time together like our road trip. If work and financial circumstances work out we’ll have maybe a maximum of once a year to do a couple of week trip somewhere for an extended vacation. (I should note that one doesn’t need to go on vacation to make memories or enjoy life.)
So with my time left, in a pretty rosy scenario, I’m looking at 34 chances to do something big or break out of the everyday for a little bit. Not too many.
Hopefully I’ll remember to embrace those opportunities and not shy away.
