My older sister spent her twenties in fashion design and in her thirties, she went back to school for social work. I remember her telling me, “Life is short but it’s too long for one career”. In 2017, I was in Bombay and picked up a book by Seneca and I remember reading, “Life is short, art is long”. As a quote junkie, I started paying mind to this phrase “Life is short.” I understand the sentiment but I feel like this intended-to-inspire saying has perpetuated an attitude of “why should I bother” or “I don’t give a f*ck”. “Life is short” is a disempowering narrative IMO, and isn’t doing justice to what life really is.
Life is precious. Life is unpredictable. But life isn’t short. And it actually can be quite long, if you’re living it presently and powerfully.
Every time someone passes away, we get perspective of how precious life is. Yet within days, if not hours, that perspective decreases and we’re back to wasting our time with meaningless, mindless activities like scrolling or Netflix. We have so much anxiety about what we’re not doing with our time or in our lives yet all that anxiety doesn’t propel us to move more urgently or intentionally. In reality, we fear dying more than we fear not living.
This phrase “life is short” has almost naturally bred a fearful, complacent, scarce mentality and we see it everywhere. People live their lives paralyzed, scared, and regretful. They hate their job but believe it’s too late to start over. They dislike their partner but believe it’s too late to start over. They have ideas but believe it’s too late to take them seriously. They want a better body but believe it’s too late show up for themselves. How many times have you personally thought: it’s too late for me to do this or be that?
My mom, a 67-year-old Afghan refugee, challenged herself two years ago to start public speaking in English and has now delivered handfuls of speeches, used her voice in ways she never would have, and has written and shared stories she never had before. She has shown me firsthand how long (and powerful) life can be, if you show up to it. Chadwick Boseman, may he Rest In Peace, lived a longer life than many 90-year-olds who are alive today. Because living a long life has nothing to do with how much time you spent alive, and everything to do with what you did with your time when you were alive.
There are people who wallow in scarcity, and there are people who practice abundance. It makes all the difference in how fulfilling and courageous our lives can be. Imagine we pushed the phrase “Life is long”. How would that change the ways that we show up to our lives? I urge you to shut down that scarce voice that lies and tells you it’s too late. I urge you to challenge yourself and start something you daydream about. I urge you to stop normalizing fear and start mobilizing yourself.