The good news is the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention recently released data showing that life expectancy at birth for the U.S. population reached a record high of 78.8 years in 2012.
The bad news is the average person only has approximately 25 years to really live life.
Where did this statement come from? It’s not scientific data or proven fact. It’s merely taking some rough averages based on common things that apply to a lot of people.
What is 78.8 years?
Here’s the breakdown:
– 946 Months
– 28,762 Days
– 690,288 Hours
– 41,417,280 Minutes
– 2,485,036,800 Seconds
According to a Gallup Poll, the average American gets 6.8 hours of sleep per night.
6.8 hours of sleep per night x 28,762 days of life expectancy = 195,582 hours of sleep. That’s 28.3% of the expected amount of time an average American will be alive.
Let’s guesstimate that the average American spends 8 hours per day at either school or work.
8 hours of school or work x 28,762 days of life expectancy = 230,096 hours of school/work. That’s 33.3% of the expected amount of time an average American will be alive.
Let’s then guesstimate that the average American spends 1.5 hours per day eating.
1.5 hours of eating x 28,762 days of life expectancy = 43,143 hours of eating. That’s 6.3% of the expected amount of time an average American will be alive.
Ok, so we’ve covered the common things associated with living – sleeping, eating and school/work.
690,288 hours of average US life expectancy minus 195,582 hours of sleep, minus 43,143 hours of eating, minus 230,096 hours of school/work.
Here’s what we’re left with = 221,467 hours, which is 9,228 days or 25.3 years.
25.3 years! That’s it. When you take out sleeping, eating and school/work, that only leaves about 25 years of free time on this earth to do the things that we want to do.
I don’t say this to be morbid. I say this to point out that we have to be intentional about making every minute in our lives count.
We have to make sure we’re doing the things that truly matter, because our time is so limited.
When I think about this, I want to be absolutely sure that I’m maximizing every bit of time that I’m blessed with.
Time is such a finite thing. It’s a rare, limited commodity that we only get once. When it’s gone, it’s gone.
This should push us to be productive. To make the most of every moment with our friends and family.
It should drive us to live lives that matter. To find our passions and pour our focus into them.
This should encourage us to be kind to strangers. To explore ways we can make things better for ourselves and those around us.
Certainly, it can be all too easy to get caught up in the rush of life and our devices and our work and the things that in the moment seem critical to our existence, but at the end of the day are we using and maximizing our precious time for the things that truly matter?
I hope each of us can answer yes to that question. Let’s be intentional and make every minute count.
Have you found ways to maximize your productivity and effectiveness? I’d love to hear your feedback and suggestions below. I’ve been thinking about this post for quite some time and it’d be great to see your thoughts.
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