How many days have you been alive?
The question stopped me in my tracks: “Dad, how many days have you been alive?”
My youngest daughter, 9 years old at the time, was just asking. She had been working on multiplication in her math class that day.
“Let’s see,” I said, trying to work out the numbers. They seemed awfully big. “Somewhere around 15,000, I think.”
Later that evening, I thought more about her question. Even now, three years later, it shakes me up in a good way.
It seems like we’re talking about two very different things. There’s being alive in the physical sense — waking up, heading to work, going about our tasks, heading home, checking off the chores, and repeating.
Then there’s being alive in a way that transcends the physical — where we’re curious about possibilities, engaged by challenges, ready to learn, inclined to reach out to others, willing to have some fun, and determined to make the most of our day.
There’s a huge difference between the two. Our challenge is to do both.
My daughter is 12 years old now, far beyond multiplication and fast approaching young-adulthood. Maybe it’s time. Maybe I should deal with the likely pre-teen eye roll and tell her my nuanced answer to her long-ago question!
Perhaps the real questions is….How many more day will I be alive? (and what am I going to do with them !)