The idea of living a very long life is indeed intriguing. I personally believe that life is beautiful, it is the best thing we have – to be “self-aware” human beings and have an experience in this world which has so much to offer. We all have a window of time to spend in this world adopting the bodies and personas we have.
While I would definitely appreciate living long enough to make the most out of my time on this planet, I do not think I would want to live a very long life. Death is as useful of a concept as life itself, and I think it is great that the time that we have is limited. I definitely do not want to extend my time here, I will gratefully spend the time that is allotted to me in this planet. In fact, I have already spent a good chunk of it already (maybe around half of it, I think?).
If I get a chance to extend my time beyond a certain period (due to advances in modern medicine and what not), I may not choose that. It is too early to make this statement, but I think that after a certain period of life, I would want to wrap things up gracefully. That point is still very very far away though, I have barely scratched the surface of what I wish to do in this life! Hence, I would grately appreciate as much time as I could get in this planet, but I probably do not want to extend it beyond a certain limit.
With that said, I would definitely like to improve the quality of the time I have left in this life. Having a deadline is useful, it helps me stay focused, allowing me to achieve my goals. Ideally, I would like to live the remainder of my life in good health, fulfilling my goals, facing challenges, and making an impact on this world.
What I am trying to say is that, I am not enamored with the idea of living a long life, I would rather live a good life!
Besides, if I do end up making an impact on this planet, my legacy will live on after my time, even after my mortal remains are no more. And in a way, isn’t that also a way of living a long life?
Death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life.
Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech
Side note
Check out this movie called The Man from the Earth (2007) – it’s an indie movie that refers to this very topic as a thought exercise (or may be more!) You can find it in YouTube – if you have some interest on this topic, this is the best 1 hour 27 minutes that you will spend. Check it out!
This post was written as part of the Bloganuary challenge of WordPress.com. Bloganuary is a month-long challenge, where bloggers are challenged to write a new blog post every day, based on a daily writing prompt. You will need a WordPress.com account to get the prompts, but you can blog on any platform of your choice – OR even journal privately. Oh btw, there is no bloganuary police – so you can pick your own prompts if you wish to!
Hari Shanker R 
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