Time is Ticking, Are You Listening?

Reading time ~5 mins

It feels like not that far ago when we welcomed the New Year of 2021. I remember wishing for a Covid-19 free 2021 (how naïve I was – sigh!).

Now it is already time to welcome the New Year 2022; and I can’t seem to shake off this one feeling – How fast did the year go!?

2021 just came and went (as did 2020, and each year before that).

The passing year got kids to grow a few centimeters tall. It promoted them to the next class. They out-grew some of their old clothes. The working class amongst us (myself included) completed one more year of appraisal cycle. One more year of inflationary adjusted increments. People celebrated one more birthday. One more anniversary. Some spent one more year of living weekend to weekend.

And finally, all this occurred as the earth circumnavigated one more time around the sun (one more प्रदक्षिणा).

Last week, I wrote about how we always underestimate the passage of time. We looked at how we could follow a strategy to meet our New Year’s Resolution (that we always make but seldom achieve). You can read that article here.

Today, let’s go a bit deeper.

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If we pause and reflect on the year gone by, amongst all the events that happened, my thoughts gravitate towards the unthinkable second wave of Covid-19 our country experienced in the months of March through May, and the thousands of lives it claimed in a matter of days.

I also think about people we lost due to other illnesses, and the minority who died of old age in this past year. Some people I knew died as well. These people now exist only in my phonebook, and in the WhatsApp scroll from past chats (which I find very hard to delete).

In this heartbreaking news, I also realize that you and I have also aged. We lost one year of our lives forever. The birthday we celebrated in 2021 inched all of us closer to our death.

My spiritual guru, Swami Swaroopananda of Pawas, has written:

काळ जातो प्रतिक्षण । तुज येईल मरण ।।१।।

अंती राहिलें सवंगडे । एकले चि जाणे पडे ।।२।।

आप्त इष्ट गण-गोत । सवे नाही कोणी येत ।।३।।

स्वामी म्हणे तूं एकला । जाग जाग स्व-हिताला ।।४।।

He reiterates the universal truth. Each second of passing time inches us closer to our death. And we die alone – leaving behind all our friends. No one is going to come with us when our soul leaves this body. Finally, he wraps up the abhang by saying that the sooner we realize where our self-interest lies, the better.

Swami Swaroopananda is of course referring to the self-interest of improving our “Spiritual Growth”.

Self-realization, attainment of moksha, understanding the eternal nature of our being, or attaining Nirvana. That should be our #1 priority in life. And this message is not just from Swami Swaroopananda, but it has been echoed throughout history from every God realized Guru this world has seen so far.

However, not everyone is spiritually inclined, so it may not be a #1 priority (yet). But we can still agree that since we only have this one life at our disposal, our Top Priority could still be to live a life full of meaning.

LIFE IS A GIFT

Sometimes, it is during times of pain that people realize the Gift of Life. For instance, if a person loses a close relative, or if they recover from a life-threatening illness, or witness a personal tragedy, then their life gets transformed. Sometimes, it just withers.

Epictetus has said “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”

People who react with courage experience a heightened state of consciousness. Their vision widens to include a higher-level perspective.  Their mind then refocuses their priorities and their lives are transformed.

Look at Sindhutai Sapkal. Sindhutai suffered immense personal tragedy. However, this tragedy gave birth to a desire to adopt hundreds of orphaned children as her own. For her contributions, the Government conferred her with a Padma Shri Award.

Similarly, look at Lt. Jyoti Nainwal, who recently graduated as an officer from the Officers Training Academy, Chennai. Jyoti was a homemaker in 2018 happily looking at her two small kids, when her husband – Naik Deepak Nainwal – was killed in action. Her mother then told her “Your life from now onwards should be a gift to your children. They will emulate you. It is up to you how you want to steer your life.” Inspired by this advice, Jyoti enrolled for military school, and is now a proud Lieutenant herself.

Also, Poonam Rai (from Varanasi) who helped more than 3000 girls to learn self-defense, after she herself was subjected to paralysis and was bedridden for 17 years after abuse from in-laws.

From total tragedy, we see that these women built a legacy that will surely inspire generations to come.

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Sadly, for most people, the realization does not arrive, and they risk getting into a life of negativity and suffering. Even if a heightened state of consciousness arises, it stays only for a few days.  After that, life gets back to normal.

Napoleon Bonaparte has said “Space I can recover. Time, never”.

This ‘time’ (the most valuable resource) gets lost on inconsequential things. We fight with our loved ones, engage in gossip, get sucked in the maze of social media, and spend hours at a job we hate.

Living this kind of life is surely going to lead to regrets later in life. In a previous article, we looked at how people unfortunately realize that they wasted a lot of time only when they are on their deathbed. By that time, it is too late.

Usually, most lives well lived are devoted in selfless service of others (like the sandalwood, which emits fragrance even when it is itself getting worn out).

We have to wear out in this life. That is the only way. Even if you feel you cannot become a Sindhutai, you could always strive to be a role model for your own children (like Lt. Jyoti Nainwal did); and try to be the best version of yourself.

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So how do we do this? How do we keep ourselves on track?

The answer is simple …

… REMIND YOURSELF OF DEATH.

The human brain is defaulted towards opting for the path of least resistance. We want an easy life. But it is the difficult life which, ironically, is what will give us meaning. And the courage to live such difficult life (despite all the challenges) is sustained only when we have a clear purpose.

One way to be reminded about the purpose is to be aware of the finite nature of our existence on this planet.

Everyone who is alive today is going to die. Whether it is in the next year, or in 50 years or in a 100. By reminding ourselves constantly about this inevitable fact, it is easier for us to stay focused on our objectives; and to realign our priorities.

Here are three ways to remind yourself of death…

1. MEMENTO MORI: Memento Mori literally means ‘remember that you [have to] die’ in Latin. The Stoic author Ryan Holiday carries a medallion in his pocket which says Memento Mori. Just putting a hand in his pocket and feeling the contours of the coin gives him a reminder about the fleeting nature of this life.

2. PHOTO AGEING APPS: There are certain apps such as Aging Booth that convert people’s existing selfies to make them look much older. Although the purpose of this app is to entertain us, you can put up a print of this ‘old’ you on the fridge in your kitchen. Every time you look at this picture, you will get a reminder.

3. LIFE CALENDAR: Another reminder is to have a Life Calendar put up on your wall. I got this idea from the blogger and writer Tim Urban. Urban has developed this interesting “Life Calendar”, which is nothing but a two-axis graph, showing our age up to 90 years. The rows represent years, and the columns depict the weeks that we have in each year. Once you start plotting your life so far (in terms of milestones), it gives you a perspective of how much time you’ve already lived, and an understanding of the balance time you have to life (assuming that you will live to the age of 90). Just a glance at this calendar conspicuously put up on a wall in your house can help to bring you back on track.

If you want a template of the Life Calendar, click here.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Ultimately, no one is going to make it out alive. Each and every person: rich or poor, white or black or brown or yellow, old or young, boy or girl is going to die eventually. Birth is the seed of death. And we don’t know when death is going to come knocking. So being prepared all the time is what we can do.

 Swami Swaroopananda, in another verse, has similarly said:

काळाची गर्जना नये कानावरी । जोवरी शरीरी बलोन्माद ।।१।।

प्रपंचात सौख्य मानी मूढपणे । न जाणे खेळणे काळाचे तें ।।२।।

होतां शक्तिहीन शरीर ते क्षीण । राहेल मरण डोळ्यापुढे ।।३।।

स्वामी म्हणे अंती घडे पश्चात्ताप । काळाची झडप पडे जेव्हा ।।४।।

Translation – We do not her the trumpet of passing time when we are Young and full of strength & vigour. We are stupid, and are totally engrossed in this materialistic world. However, when the body gets fragile, and we’re on our deathbed, we get filled with remorse and regret. Unfortunately, it is too late then.

The famous proverb states “Time and Tide wait for no one.” The sooner we realize this the more meaning we will be able to bring in our lives.

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^{Alarm clock cover photo by Mohd Zuber saifi on Unsplash}