Would you, if you knew?

Would you, if you?knew??

I enjoyed the philosopher Sam Harris’ New Years resolution for 2025 which he describes as “not a concrete resolution, exactly [but] more like a new conceptual frame that I will try to place around everything…I’m going to work with this thought: ‘Would I do this, would I pay attention to this, would I care about this, if I knew that 2025 would be my last year of life?’

Would I watch a bad movie? Probably not. Would I watch a bad movie with my girls? Absolutely.”

It’s much easier to spend your time in a frivolous manner when you think you have a lot of it.?

In contrast, we all know how fast a year can fly by. It’s no time at all.?

When you imagine just having this time left?—?it’s like expecting to receive a slice of cake but only getting a small, razor-thin piece instead. This creates a palpable shift in how we assess whether an activity is really worth our time at all. The stakes feel incalculably greater?—?there is no deferring seeing that friend or working on that project to the following year. No, if you really wanted to do it, this would be the only year to make it happen.?

Of course I hope for myself and everyone else we have many more years ahead of us.?

But imagine how much more meaningful our ensuing years could be if we really lived each one?—?not just in the hand-wavy sense?—?as if it were the last.

The Daily Spark exists for two reasons:

1. To document one idea every day that I've found helpful in my life.
2. To inspire you to discover what matters most and to take action towards it

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About me:

I'm a second-generation Taiwanese American trying to find life’s greatest sources of meaning and make the most out of it