I think we live 20% lives

If I played god and told you that you had 100 years to live, would you live a significantly different life than if I told you that you had just 20 years to live?

What if it is, in fact, possible that we live a full-length life for just less than half a life?

Perhaps a full existence is only an illusion for those who regard life as an endless series of days and nights, events and experiences, happiness and misery. Yet, amidst this perceived abundance of time that is life, there are a series of singular defining moments that shape our entire lives. Maybe that’s what Charlie Sheen meant when he said:

“Life all comes down to a few moments…”

These moments, comprising just a sliver of our lifetime, hold a disproportionate influence over our destiny. They are the 20% that shape the narrative of our lives, leaving the remaining 80% as mere preparation or consequence.

This is my epiphany: we might, in fact, live 80% of our lives in a state of becoming. These are the years spent learning, working, and dreaming — years, maybe even decades, dedicated to the pursuit of a remarkable life, the formation of relationships, and the accumulation of experiences.

And even in all of its abundance and vastness, our 80% lives are but a prerequisite for those critical 20% moments.

Now, maybe this is the unfair part: these moments are often fleeting — a chance encounter, a pivotal decision, an unexpected challenge — yet they define our trajectory, altering the course of our lives in ways we might never have anticipated.

Still, I ponder the paradox of our 80% existence as it draws a fine parallel between meaning and meaninglessness. Thus, the seemingly meaningless becomes meaningful in retrospect, as we connect the dots of our lives.

This, I think, is the tax of existence.

If we squander our 80% lives in complacency or distraction, we jeopardize the very essence of our 20% existence. The preparation becomes aimless, as we find ourselves ill-equipped for the critical moments that demand our utmost readiness and presence of mind.

For me, it is a sobering thought, this notion that we might live just 20% lives. On another note, I am reminded that my life, and maybe yours, is not merely a collection of purposeless days but an opportunity to prepare, grow, and align ourselves with our deeper meaning.