Last Updated on August 3, 2026 by The Unbounded Thinker
When I am eager to experience a certain future event, I often remind myself that every day is a step closer to death. While the mind looks forward to what is coming, time is silently taking us toward the end of our earthly journey. Besides bringing us closer to our plans and dreams, every sunrise brings us closer to the day when our time in this world will be complete: the day we will die.
This is one of the great realities of life that many people prefer not to think about. We eagerly count the days until a holiday, a birthday party, a wedding, a financial breakthrough, or some other anticipated event. We mark the calendar and patiently wait for the future to arrive. Yet while we are counting down to those events, another countdown to death is taking place in the background. Whether we acknowledge it or not, every passing day reduces the amount of time we have left in this world. The future we are moving toward is not only the future we desire but also the final destination that awaits every human being.
Every morning is a reminder of this truth. When we wake up, we often see the day as an addition to our life. In one sense, this is true because we have been granted another day to live, work, love, and learn. However, in another sense, that same day has been subtracted from the total number of days we will ever possess. We are not just accumulating days; we are spending them. Life is not something that remains untouched while we move through it. It is constantly being used up.
Every night is another reminder. As darkness falls and another day disappears into the past, a portion of our earthly life disappears with it. The day can never be recovered. No amount of wealth, power, intelligence, or influence can bring it back. Once a day has passed, it becomes part of the permanent history of our lives. This is happening continuously, whether we notice it or not. Life is slowly ebbing away, one sunrise and one sunset at a time.
We are growing older and nearing death every day. Childhood slowly gives way to youth, youth gives way to adulthood, and adulthood eventually yields to old age, which leads to death. The process is so slow that it often escapes our attention. We do not usually notice ourselves aging from one day to the next. Yet years later, we look back and realize how far we have traveled along the road of life. The child who once imagined the future eventually becomes an old man who starts realizing the reality of death.
The distance between life and death is always becoming smaller with every sunrise and sunset. Whether we are aware of it or not, the years are carrying us toward death. A person may be occupied with plans and ambitions, not knowing that beneath all these, another movement toward death is taking place. Time is quietly escorting him toward his final hour.
This is true for every human being who has ever lived. Every person who ever walked upon the earth was advancing toward the same destination, one day at a time. Their journeys differed, but the destination was similar.
The strange thing about life is that we know that we will die, but because the movement toward death happens slowly, we forget about it as we place too much emphasis on our earthly plans. We assign excessive importance to our earthly goals, forgetting that as we get closer to them, we also get closer to death. We eagerly want the future dream life that seems distant to become present, forgetting that as we get closer to this life, we get closer to death. We constantly imagine how the arrival of our dream life will mark the beginning of an amazing life, forgetting that as we move toward our dream life, we are also moving towards the heavenly gates of Zion.
Every day is therefore more than a day. It is a step. Every week is a collection of steps. Every year is a longer stretch of the journey completed. Whether we spend the day working, resting, celebrating, or suffering, the result is the same: we have moved further along the road.
Every day is a march toward the heavenly gates of Zion. The gates draw nearer with every passing dawn, and whether we realize it or not, we are walking toward them one day at a time. The gates which are never closed. They are always open, welcoming those who have completed the journey of physical life, allowing them to experience a life of spirit: a life where nothing earthly matters. A life of endless exploration of our true nature and that of the ultimate creator: who is the ALL that is in ALL.