The Distance Between:
Asking “Are we there yet?” just 10 minutes into a 5 hour journey shows you have no comprehension of time, speed or distance. Keep asking the question over and over, well, I know a roll of duct tape that is simply longing to be used toward a good purpose!
To understand the journey, you must understand how to measure the time, distance, speed, resistance and effort it takes to move from the beginning, to the ending. What’s the distance between a second and a minute, a minute and an hour? What’s the difference between the first step, and the last step? First breath. Last breath. Full head of hair. No hair!
Could you answer me this?
What’s the difference between a Good day, and a not so good day?
Imagine a person taking their last journey down the Green Mile from their cell to their last lounging space, the distance between the beginning and the ending must be incredibly short, yet an indelibly a long space of time. Tunnel vision. Prodded forward, you must want to hang back and make this trip extremely slow.
Super-centenarians are those who have lived well into their hundreds, and some have broken “modern” records on how long they have lived. USA Today reported the news of an Indonesian man, supposedly 146 years old, who just passed away. [Source] He is quoted to have said,
“Life is only a matter of accepting your destiny wholeheartedly,” Sodimejo told the Post. “I have wanted to die for a long time. My wives, children and siblings all have passed away but Gusti Allah (God) has blessed me with a long life. I have to live my life patiently and accept my destiny.”
I have to live my life patiently. I have to accept my destiny. I wonder how patiently he would have lived had he known that the distance between his beginning and his ending was be so long? Some of us race into maturity and age, all the while missing the joy of life lived at the place you presently occupy.
Stretch out your arms wide. What is the distance between your fingertips on you left hand, and the fingertips on your right hand? How long does it take a caterpillar to reach from one end to the other? A lion? There is a thought between wanting something to move faster, or slower! Depends on your perspective.
Maybe that’s the key here. It’s all about your perspective. Time, distance, speed, resistance and effort – these are portions of the equation of life moving ahead, and also of life standing still.
What’s the distance between hearing something for the first time, and learning all there is to know about the subject? This depends on the depth and breadth of the subject, and how much effort you put into acquiring the knowledge. Add into this your interest level, your ability to learn, and the learning tools you have at your disposal. Then you have an idea on the distance between not knowing, and learning all there is to know!
Each person views this process differently.
Their personal desire and challenges
either propel them forward,
or holds them back.
Hesitant. Or Aggressive.
Every measurement we use can be sub-divided into smaller segments. Just like the ruler pictured. An inch is made up of smaller sets of equidistant measurements. Divide an inch into 8 sections, then we know each inch will be made of 8 equal measurements and are numbered one through 8. In math class we learned (I’m sure I learned it…!) how to calculate answers when using different components of measurements. Fractional math would be a good name for it.
It’s a mind jumbling set of steps to get from one format to another. But it is a great way to nail down the exactness of the distance between a beginning and ending.
Could Life be measured the same way? If you knew how many heart beats you could potentially have in your life, and then how many heart beats you could expend per year, month, week, day, hour, minute, second… Conceivably, you could back into how long you might live.
But there are kinds of factors that need to go into the equation. Health. Chance. Accidents. Disease. Diet. Activity. Stress. Happiness. Personal choice. We’ve learned the health dangers of food, tobacco, drugs (legal, and the not so legal version), mental state. Yet, we continue to make poor choices. It’s almost as if we do not care when our ending may be, and enjoy living one foot in the grave.
It was Solomon who penned this thought:
I returned and saw under the sun that— The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all. For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, Like birds caught in a snare, So the sons of men are snared in an evil time, When it falls suddenly upon them. (Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 NKJV)
We do not know what life holds ahead of our steps. Whether we go fast, or slow, time and chance will happen. We can not prepare for every exigent circumstance, but we can prepare to live to the best of our ability. In the moment we exist, and in the direction we choose to go.
Today. Make the day count.
You may think it strange the different voices that I follow in life. Social media has made it easy to look for examples of better living examples, and I always look for those who have a spiritual foundation. I follow the ones that speak volumes to my life. You may not know the name Charlie Daniels, and you will probably think it strange, but I enjoy reading is posts. He often opens up his day with a tweet that says something like this from yesterday, May 1.
“If you can’t find a starting place start a new one. Lets all make the day count.” ~Charlie Daniels
Just about daily, “Lets all make the day count.”
Regardless of the distance you face in life, today, let’s make the day count. When you reach the end of your day, look over your shoulder at the past hours. What distance did you travel? Does the day count?