86,400

For the past seven years, I’ve had the great opportunity to teach math, computer and business classes at the local college. On the last day of class, I give the students a special assignment. The assignment is simple: write down how they would spend the money they earned on the first two days of working at their dream job. This dream job would pay them $60/second, $60/hour for each day, whether they decided to come into work or not. I give them a couple of stipulations:

1. Each morning, the company deposits the $86,400 into their bank account.
2. The company can fire them at any time.
3. Whatever’s not used from the $86,400 that day cannot be saved or transferred to another account.
4. None of the $86,400 can be given to anyone else.

I usually give the students five minutes to come up with some ideas. The responses usually center around paying off debt, buying a home, buying some cars, and going on some shopping sprees.

Once each student tells how they plan on spending their money, I then let them know that they actually get the opportunity at this salary already. Each time I make this revelation, it never fails that I get the look of confusion from them.

I explain to them that every day each person wakes up, they have the opportunity to have 86,400 seconds deposited into their life account. Regardless of whether you’re rich, poor, or living comfortably financially, you get the same sixty seconds every minute, sixty minutes every hour, for twenty-four hours each day. Most of us don’t know when that 86,400 will be taken away. If we decide to do nothing with all or part of that 84,600—we can never get it back.

I tell the students a quote someone told me: “Today is the tomorrow we hoped for yesterday.” Because most of us expect to live long and prosperous lives, we hope that today becomes tomorrow. And because we can only hope that today becomes tomorrow, we should live each day as if it were our last.

Now, this doesn’t mean that we live recklessly; it just means we should live each day with a purpose. If there’s a trip you always wanted to take, put a plan together to make that trip happen. If there’s a career you want to pursue, put a plan together to make that career a reality. If there’s someone you haven’t spoken to for a while, for whatever reason, call them and reconnect with them, because you don’t know when your last opportunity to have 86,400 deposited will be.

My best friend unexpectedly passed away last year. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish I had 86,400 seconds to spend with her again. Heck, I’d settle for 42,300 seconds—or even sixty.

Because her life ended so abruptly, I unfortunately saw firsthand how easily our 86,400 can be taken away. This loss has encouraged me to live each 86,400 seconds I’m given as if they were my last.

This doesn’t mean that I’m going to be reckless with the time I have today, but I will live with a purpose and make plans for another 86,400.