The urgency of spending time with friends and family #

Doing some napkin mathematics...

Visiting family monthly,
12 visits a year.
Assuming some member of the family has 5 years left to live.
60 more occasions of spending time with that family member (60*5)

Visiting family weekly,
52 visits a year.
Assuming some member of the family has 5 years left to live.
260 more occasions of spending time with that family member (52*5)

From the above napkin mathematics, you have to ask yourself if you would be happy to spend that little time with them. In real terms, putting it as 2 hour visits(in reality I think most people spend less than that much time and aren't even present due to social media and phones). Would you be happy to have only 120 hours left with someone close to you? I know I wouldn't be happy with it.

Especially as I'm young, and people my age seem to drift in life ignoring this and focusing more on being increasingly productive, yet the common regret of the elderly is spending time with family... perhaps it serves as a reminder of the shortness of life, and the shortness of how much time we spend with those who mean a lot to us. It's important not to squander this time given to us. Nothing I've said here is particularly noteworthy, it's just putting a number on it, and that number really highlights both how much time we have, and how easily it is squandered. Visiting family monthly doesn't feel like squandering it, until you see just how much time you lose out on with them.

Published on 2025/09/05