Go Do Stuff II: Do More Stuff

(YouTube / Casey Neistat)

You hear it all the time.  Life's short. Life's short. Time goes faster the older you get. 

You're 30 before you know it. You're 65 and retiring before you know it. You're 100 if you're lucky. Heck, 65 if you're lucky. Steve Jobs, one of the most important people in contemporary culture, only made it 56 years.

Life's short. 

But I think I stumbled across a secret. I think you can make 56 years seem like 100 if you live 'em right. Sorry—I don't mean to sound cheesy or anything here.

And it is a little cheesy. That's OK. Cheese is delicious. It's kind of a problem. I snack on just chunks of cheddar cheese. All the time.

Anyway.

What do you mean, live 'em right? 

Instead of working to get more stuff, just try to do more stuff. Fill those ever-shortening days with living. I think all the time about the last-second trip Katie and I took from North Carolina to Boston back in January. For lots of reasons. But here's one of the most vivid things I remember: 

That weekend felt like a week. 

Because we were doing. Living. Experiencing.

Life flies by because here in America it's so easy to spend it experiencing others' experiences rather than creating our own. Watching movies. TV. Playing video games. Reading.

Don't get me wrong. I watch lots of TV. I love movies. Play lots of video games. All are good and wonderful, but be wary: They are something to consume, not something we create.

Unless you're actually creating them. In which case, rock on. 

Consuming is good. It fuels us. But use that fuel to make life more full.

Do stuff. 

Yeah. It's tough. It takes that other stuff, money, and sometimes the stuff we do is to make money so we can just survive. That's okay. You don't have to take crazy trips all the time or go on wild adventures or spend lots of money. 

It's only 10 a.m. and I feel like I've already lived a full day. Got to the gym at 5 this morning. Played basketball for two hours. Worked out. Made a good breakfast. Egg and cheese bagel with orange juice. Met my dad at Starbucks for coffee. Had great conversation. Spent an hour working on a great story. This is going to be a great, full day.

So yeah. Want a long life? Don't count the years. Count the experiences. Or don't count at all. Just do.