I heard a refrain the other day about someone who passed away before their time – “He/she used to exercise and lead a healthy life. Sometimes you wonder, did all of that help?”
I’ve heard similar refrains in the past.
There are many quotes around smoking from the years it was in vogue. An example is – “Smoking kills but we were born to die anyway.” These quotes have been re-purposed for other unhealthy habits left, right, and center.
The strain of logic assumed in both examples is that healthy living would help us prolong our lives.
But, should it?
The question we must ask is – is doing something good a means to an end? Or, is it simply worth doing because it is good?
I would posit that it is almost always the latter. It is worth living healthy because we live every day feeling in our elements – feeling alive. Similarly, you don’t read because you are going to die the most knowledgeable human being you know. You read because you will be able to use what you learn to live a wiser, happier life.
Let’s not confuse quality and quantity. After all, it isn’t the years in our life that count. It is the life in those years.
A Learning a Day 