Forty days: putting a number to it

There was a time when time was simple.

There was only time to get up, to take porridge, to take a bath, to nap, to eat, to play and then sleep in a cycle that rolled over. 

But that was before school came in and smashed this principle of time being an endless stretch to infinity.

It was there that time morphed into a concrete 24 hours to each day. And boy did it drag on. The years ahead seemed so far off.  Improbable events. But time chipped away at the long years and before I knew it school was over and then time got wings and flew.

I have lived over 8000 days in my life. So what does a couple of days – make that 40 – matter to anyone on the background of so many others?  It does when you number your days publicly. Because countdowns are usually about D-day when something significant will happen.

And naturally, those who know about the countdown want to know what D-day is all about. I'll tell you what it was not about.

No it was not about eloping, or making a career change or even having a baby.

It would probably take me more than forty days to do any of those things, though when I started out, I would have imagined those events probable in the span of such a long period. Forty seemed like this huge number and I felt fatigued just thinking about how I would trudge through the days.

How wrong I was.

The first ten days got tougher with each rising sun, but I knew backing out was not an option and I knew from previous experience that it gets easier, then worsens and then it’s over.

It was very much like rehab, with slips and falls, and rising up to do it again and eventually I got to day one.

It has been a couple of days since D-day, and the curious ones still want to hold me to account.

This is not the tell-all kind of tale, dripping with juice and mystery that has  listeners hanging onto every word. 

It was rehab and bootcamp all rolled into one. What-about I cannot tell because it has little to do with anyone else but me.

What I am saying is that numbering your days can help you become more aware and more focused towards a change you want to bring about, or more ready for something you are looking forward to.

Numbering your days will help you shed old skin, acquire new ways or build that exhilarating anticipation to the eventual big day when you toast to D-day. Go ahead and try it.