Would You Rather a Long Forgettable Life, or a Short Memorable Life?

It’s not how long you live that’s important; it’s what you do with the time you’re here

It’s seen as a significant achievement when someone lives to an old age. But people who live to old age don’t necessarily lead fulfilling lives. You may live a long time, but not do much with that time. Someone who dies young may have done far more with their time and led a more memorable, fulfilling life.

What’s important is not so much the age you live to, but what you do with the time you are here.

Take the famous ‘27 club’. Members of the club include Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin, who all died at 27. Many will see it as a tragedy that these legendary stars died so young. They may well have lived short lives, but they achieved far more than most do in a lifetime.

They are still well known today, even though they died so young because of what they achieved in the short space of time they were here. And even though they died prematurely, their powerful cultural influence lives on.

Now, not everyone will be a superstar singer; not everyone would aspire to be one, anyway. But everyone has dreams, desires, and ambitions. The unfortunate reality is so many never end up fulfilling their dreams and ambitions.

Living to a ripe old age

While a few renegades do things their own way, most people conform to social expectations. And it is the desire to live up to social expectations that can ruin the chances of fulfilling your dreams.

Social expectations provide a roadmap of the life you are expected to lead.

Graduate from university, get a job, get married, buy a house, have children. Like a tick box exercise, they go through the list of life’s achievements.

All the while, they put their dreams on hold. So driven by a desire to make other people happy, they live an agreeable existence, not willing to step out of their comfort zone.

They’ll raise their children, and soon enough, they’ll have grandchildren to dote after.

They live to a grand old age, but lingering in the back of their minds is that dream. The dream that got away because they were so unwilling to break free from the leash that social expectations wrap around your neck.

Safety first

We have a natural instinct to survive, so being risk-averse makes sense when your aim is survival. But what is life if we are just surviving? If we don’t live, then why do we aspire to live for a long time?

As people get older, they naturally become more risk-averse. And as they get more comfortable, they get used to the comfort, and they find they quite like it.

Comfort is an altogether hard thing to give up. Once you’re comfortable, it can be all too easy to put your dreams and goals on hold. Once on hold, the danger is they stay on hold. Suddenly you live your entire life, and your dream has sailed on by.

Comfort in life is a dream killer, like a warm blanket; it protects you and keeps you safe from unknown dangers. It also means the longer you remain comfortable, the harder it is to leave your comfort zone.

When you place life into perspective, the worst thing that could happen if you take a risk is that you die. And if the risk you want to take means it could kill you, well, that is quite some risk.

Few risks we take are quite so life-threatening. It sounds cliche, but if the risk doesn’t kill you, you will learn from the experience and be stronger.

No one achieves anything they want to achieve by playing it safe; sometimes, you need to take yourself out of your comfort zone.

Ideally, we should aim for both; a long and memorable life. The dream or risk we take doesn’t have to be something big; not everyone aspires to change the world. But we should all aim to leave a positive mark on the Earth. If we don’t, then what was the point of living in the first place?