What is Human Finitude?

First Published 14 July 2022

I learned a new word this week – Finitude… a quick google tells me that this means ‘the state of having a limit or end’.  

The book I was reading with my book club over the last month was 4000 weeks by Oliver Burkeman.  The premise is that if you live to your mid 70s then you will have lived for 4000 weeks – gulp, I’m already more than half way through that!!

Now, I am not talking about this to shock and horrify, rather to discuss the value of 4000 weeks.  If that is the approximate number of weeks we are on the earth for, what are we doing with them?  Or perhaps more importantly, what would be beneficial not to do – as we can’t do it all we we might as well do what makes us feel and be better.

The members of the book club unanimously agreed that we found the book thought provoking – even if one member was slightly terrified at the beginning of their reading – and we all agreed it was definitely one to read again – one person had already done just that!

The takeaways we had where around making choices (yes, I know I talk about choices a lot 😉) – I was really happy when one person mentioned that rather than doing what we feel we ‘should‘ be doing, that we are better doing what we want to do and choosing what nurtures us.  (and they don’t even know about my relationship with the word ‘should’!)

I had 2 lightbulb/ah ha moments with the book myself. 

The first was reminding myself that life is not a dress rehearsal.  This is the ‘big show’ and waiting around in the wings for that perfect entrance/moment just isn’t practical – before I know it, the curtain will close and I will have missed out on living life. 

We can spend our time looking around us and thinking everyone else has it all – whether that be the big house; the flashy car; the luxury holiday’s multiple times a year; the best behaved kids (or pets); or the dream relationships.  Sometimes it’s hard to remember that some of those people that we admire, may also be feeling envious of aspects of our lives… I know myself in the past I have been envious of friend’s relationships and family life – yet, in return, they are envious that I have no one to answer to about where I am and when I will be home.  That I can have a long lie in when I want – or have time to myself in the bathroom (you know – those things single people take for granted!).

My other lightbulb was on those choices – are we making choices that diminish us or do they enlarge us?  Sometimes there is comfort in the diminishing choices, but will that lead to deep unhappiness in the long run?  Perhaps it is time to make those hard choices and embrace the growth – things are usually uncomfortable when they are unknown – so perhaps they won’t be uncomfortable for long?

So remember – we don’t have time to do it all and we can’t control everything – so take the time to do what fulfils us and read the book – this is one I think is worthwhile reading. 

And if you do read it – please give me a call (or a zoffee or even hit comment below) and let me know what your main takeaways are, I’d love to know your thoughts.