How Are You Spending Your 86,400?

Let's not delay our personal transformation just because we do not have all the answers.

August 26, 2021

Every day, we are deposited 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds of unique opportunity into our bank account of life to access, withdraw and use as we choose. The time wasted and not capitalized on at the end of each day is gone forever. Our time is finite and precious, and one day, it will stop being deposited. We will no longer be able to transport any of the money or materials we have acquired on this journey.

Since our mortality is inevitable, the real question becomes, will we truly live with the time we have left?

In The Art of Living and Dying, philosopher and spiritual teacher Osho writes:

"The fear of death is fear of time. And the fear of time is, deeply down, fear of unlived moments, of an unlived life. So what to do? Live more, and live more intensely. Live dangerously. It is your life. Don't sacrifice it for any sort of foolishness that has been taught to you. It is your life: Live it...The only courage is to live life totally; there is no other courage."

The choice is always within our control whether to live uncommonly and venture beyond just showing up, being average, working hard and playing by the status quo. In our reflections, let’s ask yourself will we dare to have the courage to lead a life that is true to ourselves and not the life others expect of us?

While the narratives are strategically packaged and streams of information constantly tell us what we should be, how we should look, how we should think, how we should behave, and where we should be in our lives at certain ages — understand we are the captain, storyteller and designer of our own destiny.

Each new day is an interview, an opportunity, a negotiation, an audition, a dance of search and discovery, and a celebration. Each day is right now. At this moment, we are presented with the sacred gift of life to discover and rediscover who we authentically are.

Let's not delay our personal transformation just because we do not have all the answers. On the other side of fear are unlived moments and liberating experiences for self-discovery. When in doubt, be kind to yourself, even on the messy and confusing parts of your journey.

Because when it's all said and done, agonizing over things that don't matter won't matter when our time stops being deposited into our bank account of life.