how much would you pay, in order to extend your life by one hour?

It’s an odd thought, but it went through my brain whilst doing a little present-shopping this morning.

It’s quite a hard question to answer straightforwardly, because (a) the question implies that you know when your life would end in the first place, (b) there is the small matter of how and in what state you would spend that hour, and (c) there is the small matter of you can’t take it with you.

Few people can/want to do much about point (a) – however regards point (b) I can well-imagine some people with children (or other loved-ones) expending quite a lot to spend one last hour with them; likewise to others I suspect the concept of spending an extra hour in some illness-induced agony would not appeal.

Given point (c) and the potential freedom to “cheat” by dumping all your worldly goods shortly before becoming unworldly yourself, the question only really makes sense if you had to pay now – say, mid-life – in order for that extra hour to be given later.

Indeed – my thoughts continued – that extra hour could be spliced into the middle of your life, fitting some stolen pleasure in-between two big slices of mundanity with birth at one end and death at the other. In fact, that thought led to my conclusion regarding the matter.

For all you know, any given hour of your life could be the extra one for which you will – one way or another – be required to pay later.

Perhaps it is wisest to live it as such.