A Terrifying Chart

I read this article today. It's about the way this author conquered procrastination, but what caught my interest was the "Lifetime Chart" he posted. Here is a picture of an 88-year lifespan -- one box = one week. There are a lot of boxes, yes, but look, it fits on a page! And look how many he's already filled in. (Click here to see a full-size empty lifespan chart.)

Several quotes came to mind.

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." ~~Annie Dillard.

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" ~~Mary Oliver.

"Carpe Diem." ~~Latin meaning "seize the day."

"My biological clock is ticking." ~~from the movie "My Cousin Vinny," spoken by Marisa Tomei.

"Time flies," or my dad's version, "Time do fly."

And speaking of my dad, this chart and, even more, the other one he links to, with one box per day, reminds me of the chart we used when my dad went to Vietnam. Each of us kids, my mom, and my grandma all had a chart posted on our walls with 365 boxes so we could cross off one per day as we counted down the days of the year he would be in Vietnam. 

The author called his chart terrifying. I don't know if I would call it terrifying, but maybe shocking? Maybe scary? Maybe too real? It makes the shortness of life so concrete.

To be honest, I don't know where I'm going with this. I could end with praising God that he gives me life, that he is with me through all of life, that I will be with him for eternity after this short life. All true, but they don't feel like a great insight from the impact this lifespan chart had on me. But there it is.