My meter of life is a way of looking at time, responsibility, and value.
When I think of life as a meter, every centimetre matters – not because of what others think, but because of how I choose to fill it: with acceptance, gratitude, and responsibility.
As this new year of 2026 is only a few hours old, I wish you a good continuation – centimetre by centimetre.
Read this post in Swedish->Min meter av liv
When I think of my meter of life, it becomes clear how important it is to take responsibility for what remains, rather than getting stuck in what has already been.
A new year does not begin with a blank page.
It begins in the middle of life.
That is where we are now, as 2026 begins.
I have often thought of life as a meter.
Not longer. Not shorter.
One meter.
When we are young, it feels endless.
We run along it, waste it, hardly think about the fact that it exists.
But somewhere further along in life, we begin to see it more clearly.
We see how much has already been lived – and how much remains.
Every centimetre matters.
Even the ones that hurt.
Even the ones filled with things we now wish we had done differently.
But those first centimetres are history.
They cannot be undone.
They cannot be changed.
What we can take responsibility for is the rest.
🌱 My Meter of Life – Responsibility Forward, Not Guilt Backward
I used to say to the young people I met in my work:
You may have lived 17 or 20 centimetres of your meter.
You may have 60, perhaps 80 centimetres left.
That is where responsibility lies.
Do you want to fill them with more destructiveness, more self-contempt, more exploitation?
Or do you want to fill them with something else – with the understanding that you are enough, that you have value, that you are more than what has happened to you?
It was never said as a judgement.
But as a possibility.
Those first centimetres are history.
But the rest – those you can take responsibility for.
🌿 My Meter of Life – Filling the Centimetres with Acceptance
Filling one’s centimetres with love for life within oneself can be about acceptance.
About understanding oneself.
About using gentle words – not only towards others, but also inwardly.
It can be about daring to say to yourself:
Yes, I didn’t do that very well.
I could have done it better if I were doing it today.
But also:
At that time, I could not do better.
I did not know more.
I did not have access to what I have now.
Sometimes I forgot that I had responsibility.
Sometimes I forgot to show the best of myself.
Sometimes things did not turn out as I had wished.
Not because I was bad.
But because I was human.
Accepting that is also a way of filling your centimetres with life.
🌿 When Gratitude Slowly Enters
Filling the meter with gratitude is often not something we do early in life.
Then we are busy becoming someone.
Fitting in, enduring, surviving, finding an identity.
Sometimes identity lags behind.
Sometimes it hides completely.
And then there is rarely room for gratitude.
Gratitude requires something that often comes later:
being able to see yourself as someone who already is.
When you have lived a portion of the meter, gratitude begins to slip in.
Not as grand words.
Not as constant happiness.
But as something quiet.
It may be found in a cup of tea.
In a conversation.
In a few words on a piece of paper.
Or in lines written on a computer.
Gratitude is not that everything turned out well.
It is seeing that something still is.
✨ My Meter of Life – Not a Stage, but a Life ✨
When all those parts are allowed to exist at the same time –
responsibility, acceptance, gratitude, gentleness –
something happens.
Then it feels like you are truly living.
Not as if you are standing on a stage.
Not as if you are playing a role.
But as if you are actually who you are.
In that place, what others think matters less.
Not because their voices disappear,
but because they no longer determine your value.
If someone thinks I am wrong, or not okay,
it doesn’t hurt in the same way.
Because then I am okay with myself.
And when I am okay with myself –
then I am enough as I am.
🌱 Not Giving History the Power
For me, it is crucial to remember this:
I am the one who holds responsibility.
If I do not take that responsibility, I begin to place blame on others.
Then I give history the right of way.
Then I allow what has been to control what remains.
And then I cannot grow.
Then I become someone who lies still, waiting for the meter to run out.
Often as a victim.
Bitter.
Filled with regret over what was done – or not done.
That is not the life I want to live.
Here, I want to be a responsible adult.
Not perfect.
Not flawless.
But honest.
I want to be able to say to myself:
I did what I could at the time.
With the knowledge I had.
With the strength that was available.
And that is enough.
Perhaps that is how one fills a meter of life:
not by becoming someone else,
but by standing firmly in oneself
and taking responsibility for the life that still exists.
Centimetre by centimetre.
🌿 Want to Read More?
If you recognise yourself in the idea that life is not about becoming someone else, but about landing more fully in yourself, you can read more here on the blog:
- Everyday ADHD and Presence – about living with attention, responsibility, and gentleness
- Coming Closer to Yourself – about stopping the performance and starting to live truthfully
- Longing for Everyday Life – When the Simple Is Enough – about gratitude in the small things
- Swimming and Cold Bathing – When the Body Is Part of the Decision – about listening to the body as part of life
And for those who want to read others who write about life, responsibility, and presence in a similar spirit:
- Pema Chödrön – on acceptance and meeting life as it is
https://pemachodronfoundation.org - Tara Brach – on self-worth and radical acceptance
https://tarabrach.com - Mark Nepo – poetic reflections on living the one life we are given
https://marknepo.com - Zen Habits (Leo Babauta) – on simplicity, presence, and humanity
https://zenhabits.net
There are many ways to write about life.
These are voices that, like mine, do not try to give answers – but space.
💬 A Question for You as a Reader
If you think of your life as a meter –
how do you want to fill the centimetres that remain?
With what others think you should be?
Or with what allows you to be okay with yourself?
You don’t have to answer out loud.
Sometimes it is enough to pause and feel.
✨ When Thoughts Need Space
Sometimes it is enough to write for yourself.
Sometimes to read someone else’s words.
And sometimes thoughts need space in a conversation.
If you find yourself standing at a crossroads in your own meter of life,
if you carry questions about responsibility, direction, or how you want to continue living,
there is also the possibility of conversation.
I offer calm, reflective conversations for those who want to pause, sort things out, and find their own next step – without ready-made answers, without judgement.
👉 Presence & Conversation – book a session
It’s not something you must do.
Just something that exists, when it feels right.
If you would like to support my writing and make it possible for me to continue writing freely and with presence, you can do so here:
👉PayPal Me
It is voluntary. And it is just as enough to simply read.
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No demands. Just words, when they come.
The meter continues.
The centimetres – or decimetres – we have already lived cannot be changed.
But we can learn from them.
The future centimetres are unknown.
They do not yet exist.
But right now –
this is where life happens.
This is where we breathe.
This is where we learn.
Here.
Now.
This is life.
More to Read on Reflection and Life Perspective
☆ Radical Acceptance – Tara Brach
☆ The Wisdom of No Escape – Pema Chödrön
☆ Zen Habits – Leo Babauta
☆ Mark Nepo – The One Life We’re Given
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