Why do we lead such little lives

He was sitting watching television when the doorbell rang. It was two in the afternoon but he had only recently got up so he wasn’t properly dressed but that did not stop him shambling to the door.

He pulled it towards him slowly and stared at the figure framed in the porch.

“Hello,” he mumbled, “Can I help?”

“I am Life,” said the figure.

“Good,” said the man pulling the door further open, “Come in, I’ve been waiting for you.”

Life made his way into the front room and looked round. It was filled with clothes, dirty plates and glasses, DVD and game cases, a laptop and Wii. Life threw some clothes off a chair and onto the floor and sat down.

“Well?” said the man sitting down on the sofa

“Well?” said Life

“I presume you’re here to get my life underway. I’ve been waiting for ages filling my time playing games, watching TV, sleeping, drinking.”

“So, what do you want your life to be?” Life asked.

“Well,” he paused, “I want to do things, I want go places, I want to be excited, I want to earn decent money, I want relationships, I want a reason to get up in a morning.”

“So what have you done about it?” said Life kicking off his shoes and putting his feet on the table.

“Well I’ve been waiting for you,” said the man.

“Waiting for me?” said Life opening a can of beer. “You don’t get it do you. Life is not something you wait for, life isn’t something you are given, your life is what you make it. You can’t sit waiting for someone else to make you life happen because it will be over before you know it.

Life leant forward and began to roll a cigarette. He picked up the remote and pushed the mute button so that the TV began to blare again.

“Hey!” said the man. “What are you doing?”

“I’m being your life. I’m seeing what it’s like to just expect things to happen for you without you making an effort.”

The man stared at life, who was visibly shrinking in front of his eyes

“What’s happening to you?”

“A person’s life can fill a world, it is as big as the energy they put into it. Doing things, achieving things, making things happen. I am getting smaller because…… well I suspect you know why.”

The Man stared at the tiny Life

In a very feint voice Life spoke. “You see every day that you have been given was so you could live life to the full, so that you could be your best. Ever day you have wasted is gone. You chose to wait for life to start. You hoped it would come from somewhere else and not from you.”

“Well what can I do about it?” shouted the man at the tiny flickering light.

“It’s up to you – it’s your life,” said Life