You ever notice when you open a fresh tube of toothpaste how carefreely you apply it to your brush? As the tube is consumed you continue liberally applying the paste for each use. It is not until the end, when the tube is flattened and empty, that you start conserving what’s left.
Carefully pressing the tube down, making sure not to leave any in the bottom. Hurting your fingers as you bend the top and squeeze every last ounce of paste out. Making sure not to waste a drop. Hoping for one last use before you must go to the store and buy another.
Life is like a tube of toothpaste (read in your best Forrest Gump voice). When you are young you carefreely waste your time. There are so many days left and you feel so invincible. There seems no need to get the most out of them. You waste them on trivial matters and pursuits. On anger and fear.
As you get to the middle of the tube, where I am now, hopefully, you begin to recognize it will not last forever. You begin to see your parents age, your body does not recover as quickly and you no longer feel invincible. It begins to dawn on you that this will not last forever. This is finite. Every drop matters.
Once the tube of life is flattened, and there are only a few uses left, you will give anything for just a few more ounces.
However, there is no store to replace what is gone.