Today I was spending time with my dad getting ready for our hunting trip.  In the midst of running our errands we stopped by one of his rental houses to check on the new roof that was being put on.   While we were there we got to talking to the contractor that’s doing the roof and my dad and him were talking about retirement.  They got to talking about how once retirement hits (for the majority) there really isn’t that much time left in life compared to the life you’ve lived. To illustrate this the contractor pulled out his tape measure and then drew the tape out to 76 inches, representing the years an average man lives here in the United States.   The contractor said, here’s the amount of time the average man lives, pointing to the number 76 on the tape measure.  He then asked my dad, “What’s your age?  60?”  My dad responded with “63.”  The contractor said, “OK, let’s head over to 63 and bend down the tape there.  You see what’s remaining?  That’s what you got left!”  Remaining was 13 inches of tape, not much given the amount that was headed to the floor!

Sometimes in life we need to pull out a tape measure and get a perspective on our life to realize that for many of us, life is short!  This perspective will hopefully motivate you to start doing the things that you really want to do and not what everyone says you should do.  This perspective can also help you start to live like you’re dying, which is a very positive way to live.

How about we put this into practice!  Go grab a tape measure, pull the tape out to 76 if you’re male and 81 if you’re female.  Now bend it over at your age.  How much tape do you have left?