So I was listening to The WEIRD Show The feedback episode today on my drive up to CT, and it got me thinking. The question posed was, if we could cure death, if human beings would live forever baring freak accident or violence then would that mean people would be lazy and never strive to accomplish anything? If you knew you had forever, if you no longer feared mortality then would you work hard to leave something positive behind?

I don’t know.

What I do know is that my family has a long history of longevity, not only that but my family tends to have their faculties almost up till the end. I have known most of my life that my life expectancy is around 100 years. I am in no rush to have children, I never was in a rush to get married and I wonder if that has something to do with the fact that I have always known I have time to do all of that. I know a lot of people who complain to me that they are not married yet or have kids yet and I look at them thinking they are young, and I wonder now what if they just have less time then I do? Or worse yet, they think they have less time?

People think of 65 as the age to retire, my mother and father are that old and older and still going strong. My mother is trying for an executive director position and she would be perfect for it. She says her age might be a draw back to her getting the spot because people tend to retire around 65, yet my mother will be working till she no longer can. When you are good at what you do and like it why retire? What? Retire at 65 and have another 30 years to just sit around? What’s the point? My father works in a high stress field, most sea captains retire around 55 or younger, my father is 67? or so and is still going strong. He can work for quite a few more years. He keeps talking about retirement because all of his friends (who are younger then he) are retired but I know him, if he didn’t have work to return to not only would he be bored but he would be cranky as all get out.

So back to my point, does the fact that I expect to live longer make me live more for the moment? Because that is what I feel I do, I am living for the moment, I am very happy to be at the age I am at. When I was young I was concerned with making sure I had a good education and a degree that could support me. I knew I would be older longer then I would be young so I needed to take advantage while I could. Now that I am still young but older I am happy to enjoy myself now., To enjoy my freedom as an adult while slo enjoying my youth and not hurrying to get into the next stage of life, motherhood.

Now I am a married woman, not even a year married, I am almost 32 and loving where I am. I am happy to be here and not rushing to have kids. When I am ready to have kids I am sure I will want that stage of my life to last as long as it can, just as I would love this stage to last a good long while too. I’m in no rush, I don’t feel like I am missing out on anything.

Now, is that because I have a different mindset then most? Or because I feel I am on a different timeline? I don’t fear mortality? (Or is it just me being lazy?)