I Just Found Out When I'm Supposed To Die
Earlier, we wrote about a mysterious web site that tells you when you are going to die.
You plug in your birth date, country of birth, and sex, and the site whips through some actuarial tables and gives you the bottom line.
I was born on February 6th, 1966, in the U.S., and I'm male.
So that means...
I'm supposed to die on December 8th, 2044.
That's a Thursday.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by the 2044. That seems comfortingly far away. If I make it that far, I'll be thrilled. I feel thrilled (and lucky) to have made it this far already.
(A friend of mine in high school, Robby Steele, died at ~16 from complications from getting kicked in the spleen. I think of him sometimes. And I think of how much life I've lived in the 31 years since I was 16. I'm grateful for every one of those years. And I'm grateful for all of the people I've been able to share them with. And I'm sorry for Robby and everyone else for everything they've missed.)
The part of the site's output that triggered more philosophical feelings than learning the likeliest date of my death, though, were the numbers below the date.
According to the site, I have lived 17,362 days.
And I only have 11,433 days left.
That means I have lived 60.71% of my life.
Well, I've lived a long time, and I've experienced a lot, so the fact that I still have 39.29% of my actuarial life left to go isn't bad. Again, if I make it that far, I'll be thrilled.
On the other hand...
The 39.29% of the actuarial life that I have left is considerably less than the 60.71% that I've already lived.
That's a blunt reminder that my time is limited.
And I'm running through it fast.
So, I'd better get cranking!
If I really have 11,433 days left, wonderful, I'll do as much as I can with them.
And if I don't, well, I'll try to keep living in a way that makes me grateful for every day that I get.
When are you going to die? How much of your life do you have left? Visit the site and run the numbers here. If nothing else, it will make you think...