You Have 30,000 Opportunities to Live Your Life

Isn’t it funny how most of us feel as though we’re stuck in a rut?

Okay, that doesn’t mean I’m rolling on the floor clutching my stomach about it, but it’s safe to say a lot of us feel like we’re part of a much larger machine yet feel powerless or incapable of doing anything about it.

It’s almost as though we’re a cog, fixed into place and endlessly spinning while performing our day-to-day tasks and functions… and that’s pretty much it.

Whether it’s the fact we go to work and feel trapped in our jobs, stuck in a toxic relationship we can’t seem to find a way out of, or simply lacking the motivation to do the things we’re passionate about, it’s easy to feel run down and like a small part of the endless loop of life.

Of course, this doesn’t apply to everyone, but I know two years ago, when I was working in an awful production factory, I used to go to work, go home, go to bed and then repeat this tedious cycle day in, day out. This went on for about a year and a half.

I’m young, but I know people have been caught in this trap for decades.

I wasn’t happy. In fact, I was downright miserable, and I know I’m not alone in this way of thinking. After all, have you seen how many self-help articles there are on Medium alone?

After not-a-lot of careful consideration, I decided to make the jump into becoming a freelance writer, despite having no previous experience, no education in the subject (apart from a high school English grade), but I believed it was something I could do and writing has always been my passion.

A year and a half later, here I am, a career in freelance writing with a steady stream of contracts in one hand and even enough time to write my own articles on here, simply because I enjoy doing so, in the other.

Life is looking good, bar the debt, the long-hours and the early mornings, but I’m happy.

While fear, financial problems, our relationships or belief in our own abilities may be leading obstacles that stop many people living the life they want to live, it’s important to remember you don’t have to jump straight into something for it to happen.

Although the transition process of going from a factory employee to a self-employed freelance writer took less than 14 days, it took an entire year to enhance my skillset and grow my client base to where they are today, and that’s not even 10% of where I want to be.

Which leads me to my very interesting shower thought.

Each day is a unique opportunity.

Each day, the sun rises, you wake up, and you have the chance to do something amazing. Each day, you have the chance to live the life you want to live.

Don’t get me wrong, we still have to go to work, earn money, buy food and run all the other errands life holds for us, but that doesn’t mean that’s all life is.

Thinking about how many days were in my lifetime, I leaned out of the shower to conduct some quick research. In the UK, the average life expectancy is around 81 years (73 in the US). 81 years translates into exactly 29,565 days.

“Holy shit,” I thought to myself. “That’s nearly 30,000 opportunities to live.”

I’m 24 years old, which means I’ve already had 8,760 days, leaving me with 21,240.

That’s Twenty-One Thousand, Two Hundred and Forty Opportunities.

After my shower, I proceeded to lay on my floor and ponder this idea. By treating each new day, not as a day, but as a unique chance to build, to create, to think, to develop or to deepen a connection with another person.

Each time the clock strikes midnight, it signals a new dawn for laughter, for smiling, for crying, for anger, and for passion and drive.

Life is an amazing and beautiful adventure

If you’re starting a business, bask in every opportunity you’re given to push yourself, to strive for success, to be passionate about the industry you’re in and the empire you’re building.

If you’re spending time with the people you love, you have thousands and thousands of opportunities to connect with these people, to create deeper bonds, to make them smile, to hug them, to kiss them and to create unforgettable memories that will last your lifetime.

If you’re striving to find your passion or path in this world, life has given you 30,000 sunrises to get out of bed and find something new and exciting you adore, whether that’s trying a new hobby, exploring to a new country, or in other ways stepping out of your comfort zone.

Taking every day as it comes is such an important part of life for your own mental and physical well-being. So many of us are so caught up in the tiny, nitty-gritty, insignificant details of life, so much so we end up failing to see the bigger picture. We can’t always bring ourselves to look outside the box.

As people — as a society — it seems as though we tend to focus our attention on the negative aspects of life. These aspects could be decisions we’ve made in the past, the way we’ve been treated by others, the way we’ve treated others, or fearing what our futures hold.

However, every time you wake up, you have the opportunity to be You. To be the person you want to be, not for anyone else, but for yourself.

We’re so tangled in the stresses, the anxieties, and the worries modern-day life brings. If you’ve read some of my other articles, you’ll know I took out thousands of pounds worth of bank loans to extend a travelling stint several years ago, loans I am still repaying to this day.

Nevertheless, this isn’t something I’m going to invest my time worrying about. I refuse to live with my head in the past, apprehensive about how I’m going to pay my rent or my loan repayments because today is a new day for me to focus on making it happen.

If I have a disagreement or argument with a family member, friend or partner, I’m adamant it’s not going combust into anger, hate or contempt because tomorrow is a new day to connect with that person on a new level, to understand them and to love each other.

You’ve got time.

Planning for the future

Don’t get me wrong; not everything can be achieved in 24-hours. If you’re building your empire, getting to know someone, or exploring a new skill or passion, this can take hours, days or months to perfect and get to where you want to be.

Tony Robbins said it best;

“Most people overestimate what they can do in a year, and they underestimate what they can do in two or three decades.”

You have thousands of chances to make it work and to give it everything you’ve got. If you want to do something amazing, something that will make you happy, a goal, an intention or a dream, dedicating a year of your life to this idea gives you 365 opportunities to grow and develop.

730 if you stick at it for two.

Imagine how far you can go by spending 730 days on something you love, regardless of what that is.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Some of us won’t have 30,000 days on this Earth. I’m more aware of this than a lot of people. Things happen, things we can not always control.

But, death doesn’t have to be scary. To me, this fact simply makes every opportunity even more beautiful and is all the motivation we need to take every chance we’ve got.

Changing your perspective

Of course, time still ticks the same as it always has, and always will. With a change to your perspective, such as treating each day as a new opportunity, you can change your life forever.

Today, you may be feeling run down, exhausted, unmotivated, lazy, or even as though you’re lost on your path of life, but it doesn’t matter.

Tomorrow is a new day.