Put the Pen to the Paper!

PETRIFIED: HOW FEAR CAN LEAD TO URGENCY IN LIFE

“Do you value your time on this earth?”

Ever hear the term time is of essence? That’s because the most valuable commodity in life is time. Money comes and goes, but you only have one shot at life. And for most people there is fear that lies in only having one life. But having fear is not all bad. Sometimes fear gives people more of an incentive to spend their time on Earth being more productive. When you realize that this is the only life we have and after that, that’s it, you’re quicker to get things done. Well, why do we waste time?

Like that old saying, why put off until tomorrow what you can accomplish today. This is not all about putting in the work to live a good life. In my life, I have witnessed the deaths of three very important people close to me: my great grandmother, and both grandmothers (mother and father’s mothers). Missing the relative will never go away, but you don’t have regrets as long as you were able to get the most out of life from them. Some people wait until the person in their family has passed then start asking questions: How come I didn’t call them? I wish I had just a little more time with that person. That’s what is meant by putting off until tomorrow. But we go, it’s ok, I’ll see them tomorrow. But when they pass, you can never get that time back.

Now, in context of working in society, we really put off things on a daily basis that could help us succeed. It’ll be Monday, and we say things like, “It’s alright, I’ll do it tomorrow.” Then Friday comes and it’s still not done. Not only is it not done, but you may have to accomplish a new task that overlaps with the old one. As you get older, you do less and less of this because you’re more aware of your own mortality. It’s that fear that gives you urgency to get things accomplished. Then why not when we’re young. What is it about being young that we think we’re going to wake up everyday.

Well, when you’re young, you’re not as used to people your age dying. So if you’re 19 years, your time is spent hanging and not thinking about tomorrow. Life is all about drinking and hanging with friends. Life starts to set in around 30 years of age. This is a milestone where you start to realize where your life has come thus far. It’s when you start looking at life more long term than short term. The fun can still exist, but it has rapidly declined because you understand the ultimate goal in life, and how much time it will take to get there.

In the end, fear can hold us back, but it can also propel us forward. For me, fear is used to help me succeed. If not for my fears, I don’t know how I would function. Not everyone need it, but I do, because it makes me have a goal to accomplish. So with each passing year, I assess where I am in life, and where I want to go. As long as I hit the majority of my targets I am on track to success.