How will you spend your next 14,428?

by Joe Torres

365¼. That’s how many days are in a year.

If I lived to be 100 years old, that would be 36,525 days of life. It sounds so much shorter when you think about it in terms of days. I’m 36-and-a-half years old, so ballpark, that means I’ve lived 13,331.7 days so far (I rounded). Factor in that the average lifespan of an American male is 76 years, and that’s roughly 27,759 days of life. It’s 80.1 years (or 29,256.5 days) for American females, in case you were curious.

But back to where I was going.

So, I have about 14,428 days left – that’s if I hit the average. Given how I tend not to listen when my wife talks, hitting the average is not necessarily in my future, either. It had never dawned on me how short life really is until my friend Trevor recently pointed it out. I will forever be in debt to him, since it really gave me a boot in the posterior.

Now, when people bring things up, I’m going to remember how precious a commodity people are really asking me to spend. “Hey, Joe, wanna help me move?”

“I don’t know, Bill. I’ve only got 14,428 of these bad boys left. Not sure I want to spend one of them carrying your cat-pee smelling couch up three flights of stairs.” Bill doesn’t exist, but you get my point.

So let me just warn everyone now: We are all on borrowed time. I don’t know about you, but I plan on every one of the next 14,428 being awesome. And now I challenge you, friends. Given that we are all at various ages in our lives, what are you going to do with the days you have left?

Be aware, I have no intention of apologizing for how the next 14,428 days play out. I just refuse for them to be lame, so watch your butt, world. I’m coming for ya.

Clock’s ticking…

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Joe Torres writes sci-fi adventure with heart. He is currently working on his first novel, Force of Nature. Joe lives in Gilbert, Ariz., with his wife and either the most amazing child on the planet or a demon from the depths of hell, depending on which side of nap time you find yourself.