Getting More Out Of Our Limited Days

So today is my birthday. Needless to say, I don’t have the same warm feeling about it as when I was turning 16 or 21 or even 40 (despite the heat index at freakin 107 degrees today in the Lou!)

I find it strange that our age, which is such an important life barometer to most, is simply tied to the time it takes for the earth to circle the sun. If I happened to be born on Mercury I would be 240 years old by now. By the way, I really look good for 240!

But if my parents had shown the good foresight to live on Pluto, I still would be waiting to celebrate my very first birthday. In fact, I would still have 69,396 earth days to go. Incredible!  On the one hand, a birthday is just a random number. On the other hand, it is a limited number- you can’t live until infinity.

In any case, most would agree that there aren’t enough hours in each day.  Between family, work, exercising, playing and watching sports, volunteering, religious activities, household chores, shopping, paying bills, social media, and maintaining relationships with friends, it’s impossible to do everything we want.

My aspirational superpower (in case anyone is thinking about getting me something) is to be able to go without any sleep and still think straight and feel rested. This would provide me (at say generously 8 more hours a day) a whopping 25.6 more earth years of awake time based on the current average US male life expectancy of 76.9. For you ladies out there, you would get 27.2 more earth years given your higher average life expectancy of 81.6. If you happen to live in Japan, the country with the highest life expectancy, you could squeeze even a few more waking years out of my plan. (In a twist of irony, our house alarm went off this morning at 1:21 a.m. – fortunately no intruders or they were intimidated by my baseball bat – but I couldn’t go back to sleep so I guess be careful what you wish for.)

I know this sleep elimination thing is blasphemy to all you folks out there who love your snooze time and to who cozying up in a warm blanket at the end of a long day is your nirvana. And I am fully aware of studies that demonstrate the importance of sleep to health, brain performance and, yes, even longevity itself. But that is a LOT of time we are spending on this earth literally just lying there. If scientists could come up with a drug, device or method to eliminate sleep, while still retaining the same essential benefits of it, that would undoubtedly be one of the greatest inventions of all time.

Until that happens- which I appreciate will likely be long after I have been put into a state of permanent sleep- we have to make do with the hours we are afforded.

So how can we maximize our enjoyment and appreciation for the waking moments we do have? That’s not always easy when there is a looming deadline at work or a sick child or a jerk who has run you off the road or your dog has just eaten his second TV changer (Goldens are voracious eaters).  I am no Maharishi Yogi but one suggestion I have is to give some serious thought to the simple (and realistically achievable) things that you would like to try to incorporate into every day in order to have a more fulfilling life (I’m not talking here about your “to do” list of mundane tasks or, conversely, improbable dreams like acquiring Apple’s cash accumulation or the Blues winning the Stanley Cup.)  Make your own mental or written list. Then, when your head hits the pillow at night (at least until they figure out this no-sleep thing ) make a candid assessment of how well you have done for that day.

I will share my own daily aspirational list (though I admit I rarely accomplish them all) :

1. Smiling a lot (there aren’t many things that are contagious AND also good for others)
2. Laughing and making others laugh (guaranteed good for your mental and physical health)
3. Reading something worthwhile (not talking work-related, facebook or e-mail here)
4. Writing or creating something (thus this blog and my book)
5. Learning something new (not that the Cardinals need a bullpen or that Democrats and Republicans are not fond of one another)
6. Exercising (ideally involving the use of a ball and sport of some kind but, if not, at least something that involves moving my ass)
7. Meditating (or yoga or some other form of silent reflection)
8. Doing something nice for someone I care about
9. Doing something nice for a complete stranger
10. Connecting with a friend I have not spoken to in a while

And one that I won’t mention…

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