10,000 Days

The best evidence that I should have majored in history instead of finance comes from the fact that I can't remember anything that I learned from my finance classes. I was usually daydreaming or counting my imaginary money. (I still spend way too much time counting imaginary money)

During one particularly boring financial theory class I came up with an entire new way to celebrate lifes milestones. I came up with a brand new ritual that would be celebrated around the globe. I've long since lost the notes I made on my idea, but it involved celebrations, gift giving, Hallmark cards, speeches, family gatherings...the works. I was trying to figure out how I could profit from the idea so I ran it by my dull minded friends (you know who you are). Sadly I was discouraged with theirs yawns and shrugs, so another brilliant idea withered and died from the lack of effort.

The rituals of our lives may seem unnecessary but they are a feature of almost all known human societies, past or present. A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. They may be performed on special occasions by a single individual, by a group, or by the entire community. Alongside the personal dimensions of rituals, they also have the important function of reinforcing the shared values and beliefs of a society. We use them to create social bonds. They include not only the various worship rites of organized religions, but also the rites of passsage in our lives such as marriages, graduations, funerals and even birthday parties.

While the actual passages of life may follow in consequential order, birth, adolescence, graduation, marriage, retirement, death...the actual lives we live are seldom so orderly. A ceremony that marks a life passage gives us a chance to pause, to reflect on the past and dream of the future. It gives us a chance to pay attention to our lives and to note our existence. By paying attention to our existence we sanctify it. We ask "Who am I? What am I doing here?" We connect ourselves to previous generations and to the generations that follow.

OK, so here's the basic premise of my 25 year old great idea. Our lives are divided into many stages but I condensed them into three sections of 10,000 days called Life Days. 10,000 is a big, impressive, round number that carries the weight of importance and rarity(10,000 days is about 27 and a half years). These 10,000 day milestones would be so globally important that everyone would know the three dates that celebrate their life. A baby would leave the hospital with a name, a birthday, and his three life days. The celebrations marking your life day are much bigger than birthdays or even graduations. They are as important as weddings and involve invitations and speeches and gifts and toasts and dancing.

The first third of your life is called "Becoming". This is obviously the period when you become who you are and by your 10,000th day you are pretty much the person you are going to be. You develop your skills and talents and your fears and phobias. You become educated and choose career paths. You often choose a mate and become a parent. You dream and hope and know that you have your whole life ahead of you.

The second phase, I called "Achieving". This is the responsible, productive, middle of your life. You work, produce, provide, and accomplish the goals you established in your younger stage. The younger and older generations both count on you.

The last 10,000 days start when you are about 55 and is called "Reflecting". You still have a lot of work ahead of you but the kids have moved out and the promotions at work seem less important and you are starting to coast. You are exploring your spirituality and hopefully enjoying the life you've built.

At 82, there is a major celebration of your life. You've reached 30,000 days! There is a major celebration of a life well lived. People make the speeches that they were saving for your funeral but should be told while you could hear and appreciate them. You live the remainder of your "bonus days" as a respected elder and enjoy the years you have left.

What do you think? Do we need another reason to celebrate? Will it catch on? Is it stupid? If I send my idea to Hallmark will I get a cut of the card sales?

Here are my Life Days:

I was 10,000 days on January 18, 1989
I will be 20,000 days on June 5th, 2016
I will be 30,000 days on October 22, 2043

Go to www.daysalive.com to figure out your own milestones. And make sure I get an invitation to your celebration!!