The idea of living on borrowed time is simple – you aren’t going to be on this planet indefinitely, and one day, we will have to meet our maker (or whatever you believe… we are going to die). If you look around at the lives of others, and perhaps the life you live (this goes for basically everyone), most people don’t spend their time very wisely. Commonly, people engage in activities that aren’t productive, aren’t fun (mindless entertainment), and have no real meaning. There is a reason why older folks, or people who are terminal, tell you to live a life of purpose – that reason is because regret will bite us in the ass one day and all we will remember is that we spent our time like idiots. How many times have you heard the saying, “Time is wasted on the youth”, and do you know what it means? The saying is basically saying, “People that don’t understand that time is finite will waste it”, which is a very human thing to do. Just look at anything in your life that seems infinite compared to things that seem very finite, and watch how you use them. A great example of this would be dieting! If you have to diet and have to stay under 1800 (finite) calories (because you know how many you burn off, etc etc) then you cannot go and eat an entire pizza, a gallon of ice cream, and some gummy bears. On the other hand, when you aren’t dieting you can eat whatever you want (infinite, to a degree). This is how we are living, or wasting, our lives… we simply don’t know how to spend our time wisely.

Living on Borrowed Time – Why it Works

The idea of borrowed time allows us to realize that time isn’t infinite, very similar to when someone lets you borrow something for a finite amount of time. When you borrow a law mower from Joe, he doesn’t want you to keep it indefinitely, he is simply allowing you to take hold of it for a certain amount of time in which you will then return his law mower. If we look at time as Borrowed Time, we then realize that time isn’t something infinite, but something that can go away at a moments notice (when you borrow something, it isn’t yours, no matter how much you want to keep it).

If you have been on GenerationPioneer before you may remember posts about how, once you make your mind aware of things, you will slowly start to perceive the world differently. An example of this would be seeing your life in a more positive light, restructuring words to make them more pleasant and positive, and then living a happier life due to the fact you are constantly saying and doing positive things. If you don’t believe that this works then go out a try it yourself with a simple exercise of smiling. When you smile, your brain understands that the physical response for happiness, even if you aren’t happy, has been used and therefore your body will release hormones/endorphins to mimic the physical movement of the smile to then make you happy. It may sound like a bunch of pseudoscience, but it is indeed very factual and sound. Why bring all of this up? Telling yourself that you are living on borrowed time lets you subconsciously understand that you live in a finite amount of time, and you will start to appreciate time more. Here is another example (yes I love examples).









When someone dies, you realize life isn’t infinite. This has bound to happen to you already, and if it hasn’t… I am sorry but this is a big wake up call. It doesn’t even matter how close the person was (to a degree), if you actually experience a loss of a person (like their skills, friendship, etc) then you will realize how finite our lives are.

Living on Borrowed Time – What Can You Do

The first thing to do is realize that life truly is finite, and after that, try to live your life to the fullest. Here are a few great tips:

Be Happy

Be Positive

Be Productive

Be Helpful (help yourself and others)

Accomplish

Set Goals, Dreams, and achieve them

This post is only to help you realize the finite time we have on this planet (if we go to mars, then both planets), and to start thinking about what you want to achieve so you can start achieving it.

Have a great day!

Imagine this is a P.S. – if you haven’t tried meditating yet, please give it a go!