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I hope we can agree that for us to say we live a fruitful life is because we produce a positive impact, not only on ourselves, but also on other people… unless we think that just having a career, financial success, and a family mean already a fruitful life.

I think it has to be both ways. Living only for ourselves will cause little impact, like the solitary tree producing fruits that nobody eats. Eventually, it becomes a waste. And living entirely for others is deadly, as you need to be fit (physically, academically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually) to help other people.

So, we need to be fit in order to produce fruits that others can eat, while sustaining ourselves. During whatever time God gives us, we need to have that balance, an equilibrium. And only by reaching that equilibrium, we will live a fruitful life. Of course, we hope we can live a long life to have a chance… do we think it is enough?

For us who live in developing or industrialized countries, with access to decent healthcare, housing, food, water, electricity, and information, we may expect to live around 80 years. Eighty years should be enough time to do things for ourselves as well as for other people.

Really?

Let’s see…

It is not exaggerated to think we could spend one hour daily in the bathroom, regardless how many times you need to go in there. By doing a simple calculation, we will then spend more than 15 days, with their nights, inside the bathroom this year alone. After 80 years, we would have spent, at least, 1,200 full days inside the bathroom, which is the same as to say we will spend almost three years and a half in there (yes, 3.5 years).

What else? Well, we would have also spent, after 80 years of life, around:

• 23 full years… sleeping, or about 7 hours each day;
• 7 full years… eating and dining, or around 2 hours each day; plus, another…
• 5 full years just commuting… or around 2 hours in our cars, or buses, or in trains.

Add them up and we have used up already half of our lives just sleeping, eating, cleaning ourselves, and moving around. The very basics of what means “to live”. Fortunately, we have the other 40 years, which should be, all of them, “effective” (well, we would have those 40 years only if we were born today! But let’s carry on).

We still need to fill our brain, get money and material things, canalize emotional feelings, and satisfy spiritual needs. So, we study, work, exercise, pray, go to church, visit our families and friends, relax, have fun, and more. All these comprising the expanded purpose of “living”, which, by the way, it is done during that “effective” half-life, on our own, and for ourselves… When, then, can we do something for others?

Let’s put it into a perspective easier to digest; say, per day. Half a day we spend sleeping, eating, moving, and inside the bathroom. The other half, we still have to work, study, exercise, pray, relax, entertaining ourselves. Would that take 10 hours a day? maybe 11? or the full half “effective” day we have left?

Again. When do we have “free” time to give our love, generosity, kindness, compassion, care, respect, forgiveness, repentance, attention, and companionship to other people, including our own family members living under the same roof?

When? Ask yourself. Many of us will say… yes, we do spend some time in contact with people every day through Internet.

Are you sure? We open WhatsApp and enter chat groups that talk about things which, in many cases, have nothing to do with us. Or open Facebook and Instagram to publish or read posts from “friends” whom we don’t even know; or maybe Twitter, that shows messages that we don’t know whether they are real or fake. At the end, that time we thought we had dedicated to other people was not fruitful; it went wasted.

Bottom line, to give people our goodness requires talking directly face to face to them, being there, together, side by side; or hearing our voices, the very least. That is the best way to ensure people will receive it. So, perhaps, instead of checking that Internet application, why not to call or visit someone?

We have 12 more “effective” hours tomorrow, God willing… How would you ensure those will be 100% fruitful? And in the next 10, 20 or 30 more “effective” years?

It scares me to think I may only have 8 “effective” years left in my life to impact others… so I can feel, when lying on my deathbed, that my life was fruitful.

How much time do you have?

The clock is ticking, and time wasted is life wasted.

PD. Remember to take a look at the book Sicamor…