Some people say life is a book with chapters and pages recording events and changes in our lives. Others prefer to regard life as a blank sheet of paper, on which colorful pictures form life. But both a book and a piece of paper have limited space. It can run out without us realizing it. 

有人说，人生是一本书，一章章一页页都记录着一生的大事和转变。还有人说，人生是一张白纸，多彩的图画才构成了整个生命。但是，不论是书还是白纸，都是有限的，不知不觉可能就用完了。

Take life as a blank sheet of A4 paper. Suppose we live to 75 years old, then life is 900 months, which can be represented by a 30×30 table on a sheet of A4 paper, with each cell being a month. Color a cell after a month and you will find something worth thinking.

如果人生是一张空白的A4纸，假设我们活到75岁，那么就是900个月。在这张纸上画一个30×30的表格，用每个单元格代表1个月。每过一个月就涂掉一个格子，你就会发现一些值得思考的东西。

Yourself

If you are 20 years old, you have finished 27 percent of your life.

如果你今年20岁，那么就已经走完了27%的人生。

When you graduate from a university, your life is:

大学毕业后，你的人生就是这样：

If you are in a 6-month relationship, it is like this in your life:

如果你谈了一场6个月的恋爱，它在你的人生中是这样的：

If you are a 30-year-old commuter, your life is:

如果你是30岁的上班族，你的人生就是这样：

As parents

After you have a child, you can spend such number of days with him/her before kindergarten:

之后，你有了孩子。在孩子上幼儿园前，你能和他/她相处的时间是这样的：

Before his/her college, you spend these days with him/her:

孩子上大学前，你可以和他/她相处这么多天：

As children

Suppose our parents are 50 years old, their life would be:

假如父母现在是50岁，他们的人生就是这样的：

If you have the chance to meet them every day, this is how long you can stay with your parents:

如果你每天都能见到父母，那么你和父母相处的时间是这样的：

If you meet them twice a month, you spend these days:

如果你一个月见他们两次，那么就只能和他们呆这么久：

If you meet them once a year, after work, family gathering days would be:

如果你工作后一年才能见他们一次，那么家庭团聚的日子就只有：

Life is short, as everyone knows. But when life is quantified, the countable cells remind us that how little time we spend with people we love most. We are too busy working, making friends and traveling to spare time for them. 

众所周知，生命是短暂的。但当我们这样把生命量化以后，这些可以数的清的格子就会提醒我们，我们和最爱的人相处的时间有多短。我们忙着工作，忙着交朋友，忙着旅行，却很少拿出时间陪他们。

So, after reading, you might as well put down you phone, spend some time talking with your parents or children, and think about life.   

所以，读完这篇文章后，不妨放下手机，抽一点时间，好好和家人聊聊天，思考一下自己的人生吧。   

Source: People's Daily

Editor: Zhang Xi

Intern: Zhao Han