005 How Long, Victor?

Time waits for no one. Once you have acknowledged the impermanence of human life, the next question suggests itself. How long are you going to live, Victor? The facts will set you free. So you better know your number.

You can find the life chart mentioned in this episode here.

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TRANSCRIPT

Time is the soul of this world.
- Pythagoras

 

Welcome back, Victor.

This is INVICTUS.

Having chatted casually about death, let's talk exclusively about life from now on, Victor.

How long will you live?

Do you really want to leave this question entirely to fate?

Do you truly have no clue?

We have found that most people very well do have some idea about how long they will stay in their current circle of life on this wonderful blue planet.

That is why we do not want to give away the opportunity to let you think about it.

So, take a few minutes in silence to ask yourself that short question.

HOW LONG DO I INTEND TO LIVE?

See if any number comes up in your mind.

Don't get upset, whatever the number, even if it's 120 or something like that.

Just take the number presented to you and recognize how familiar it feels.

You can even take more time on this.

Allow yourself to carry that particular question around in your head for a few days or weeks until the answer is revealed to you.

You are also free to change your number at any time if you should receive an answer that feels more accurate to you.

The idea here is to always have your personal number as a reference.

That's useful as it gives life and death some kind of mathematical framework to deal with.

However, If you don't hear that mystic inner voice whispering any number to you, or if you rather believe in statistics and numbers others have computed, let's go from there.

The average life expectancy in the U.S. in 2022 was 79.05 years.

If you live in another part of the world, research the appropriate numbers.

For simplification, we will use 80 as the overall average number for further reference if you don't have a better one.

Now, let's take it one step further.

Put your life expectancy number in proportion to your current age.

So, let's assume that your number is 80, and you are 52 today.

Thus, it's simple math to find out that there are 28 years left to go.

It's time to write your next line of code, Victor.

Code Line Suggestion

I intend to live for (fill in the blank) years. 

That's (fill in the blank) years to go.

Painting a Picture

Now, just for fun, let's take it even one step further.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

So why not create a nice picture of what you have discovered so far?

Let's make these dry numbers more handsome.

Here's an interesting way of presenting it.

However, for some folks, it isn't very comforting.

For some others, it is highly energizing instead.

Let's stick to the statistics and roughly estimate that your life will last about 80 years.

That would equal an undisputed 960 months.

In the graphic you can find on the INVICTUS Pepcast Website, each box represents one of these months.

The red ones are already used up if you are 52 years of age today.

You can still pick the green ones.

You can put your own numbers in proportion here.

If you want to create a personal life chart online, you can do so on a site we have also linked from the INVICTUS Pepcast Website.

However, an optimistic assumption of 90 years of life is made there.

Now, let these mathematical truths have a little effect on you.

And then decide for yourself how you want to deal with it.

Also, consider whether you can afford to mark another month in red without noticeably improving certain things in your life.

Whatever you decide, there's only ONE THING that remains certain:

Time waits for no one.

This is THE ONE life you have, Victor.

Memento mori.

Code Line Suggestion

Time is running out. I won't waste another day.

Meet you in the next episode, Victor.

You are THE ONE.