All the books I won't read

When time feels heavier than usual, I think about all the things I won't get to do in this lifetime. Life is short, and days move faster as the years go by.

There are so many hobbies I want to try but never will. I may never learn another language. I may never visit all the countries I once dreamed of seeing.

Lately, I’ve gotten back into reading. I was on a roll last year, but that momentum faded when I left my job to start a startup (which, it turns out, isn’t great for maintaining a reading habit). The completion of every book leaves me with a strange feeling of emptiness. I read slowly—something I’ve only recently come to accept—so finishing a book is a reminder that there’s a finite number I’ll ever get to read.

I know I need to read a book on sales, but I also want to read this one on kickboxing. I should probably finish Mastering Private Equity, but everyone keeps telling me to read Sapiens. There are books I want to read again, but it’s hard to justify that when there’s already so much left unread.

There's no point to this post. No silver lining. No grand lesson. Just an acknowledgment that life is short. I won't get to read all the books I want to read, and that sucks. That is all.