7,665 Days.

“Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.” 

W.H. Auden wrote that line and I get it – because I may be interested in death but, believe me, I’m not really interested in dying! I’ll be so sad to leave this world and my loved ones. Like most of us, it takes alot of courage for me to look squarely at the truth that one day I will die. It is sobering, frightening, humbling. But maybe that’s exactly why making peace with my own mortality has truly made me want to make the most of each and every day that remains.

And just how many days might be left? Last March, on my birthday, with just a couple of clicks on my laptop, I discovered that the average life span of a woman like me, is 84 years. I got out the calculator. If I have 21 years left, and there are 365 days in a year, then, statistically speaking, on that day, I had the grand total of 7,665 days left to live and learn and love here on earth.  

7,665 days is alot of days - and at the same time, not so many days at all. 

Our days, my friends, are precious; our ordinary, “just like any other” days, our busy days, our quiet days, our special occasion days, our “Will this EVER end?” days and our “I wish this would NEVER end!” days. None of us has all the time in the world; all we have is our own time in this world. Never knowing exactly how many or how few, we can choose to be present, to be conscious, to be courageous - to be as fully alive as possible for all the days of our unique lives. 

“So, what do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” asks poet, Mary Oliver.

Wild. Precious. Life. And this one, is mine. So, before I go, I plan to pay attention. I plan to be grateful. I plan to tell people how much they mean to me. I plan to forgive - and to ask for forgiveness. I plan to devote time to my impossible dreams so that I don’t die with too many regrets. I plan to prepare as much as I can for the inevitable end. I plan to hold these intentions close, live them as best I can and also accept that I won’t get it perfect. I am, after all, only human.

And time keeps flowing. I’ve lived six more months since my birthday, about 189 days. So….
here’s to 7,476 days - and counting.

With love,
….Cheryl

P.S. Before you go, I just wanted to say thanks for reading and enjoy this season of the autumn equinox!