[h2s]

I thought this was going to be something different based on the title. A few years ago I had a realisation: we are each of us every day working on our life's work. Your life's work doesn't begin on some nebulous future date after you land that dream job or get to start a clean project in a fresh new codebase. The bug you fixed yesterday, the optional parameter you added to that method today: that's your life's work.

This was a transformative realisation for me. It empowered me to take the pride in my work that I knew I wanted to, and drove me to push myself a little harder. It was also useful in helping me see my long term career goals more clearly. Once you've thought "this is what I'm going to spend my one and only lifetime doing" all the bullshit falls away.

[r0s]

I think of this realization in my own life as The Moment of Panic. Wherein I suddenly realized time was passing.

I don't think you can see that, until you test your abilities, and see your own potential. Maybe that's why it took me thirty years to get there.

[h2s]

    > time was passing

This is an interesting alternative way of looking at it, yeah. I have said several times in the past that I basically live my whole life as if the "time running out" music from Mario was playing [1], but that's more about my impatience in everyday life than any wise long-term awareness of my own mortality.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pDzJC9R3HA

[virtualwhys]

@h2s that is getting into the nitty gritty, nicely said. One and only life, easy to forget while coding away -- even if you love what you do, it's going to end, badly, as for as continuation is concerned.

We're wired into thinking that a blip in time (this body/mind) will Energizer-Bunny-like just keep on going and going.

Thinking otherwise brings the doubt: why sit in front of these screens everyday? How utterly pointless it all is! And yet, it seems we must do something, or...

Cheers ;-)