It is not length of life, but depth of life.

Length is the easiest thing to measure and the least useful. A long stretch of years can pass with almost nothing in it, while a shorter life crowded with attention, affection and real work can feel complete. That is not a consolation to hand anyone grieving a life cut short, and it is not meant to make loss acceptable.

So ask where your days are thin, and what would thicken them. Usually the answer is presence rather than activity, and fewer things attended to properly. An afternoon given fully to someone counts for more than a month of being nearby.