Thanks for sharing your experience. I can imagine that your experiences and the figure of 60 have had a strong impact - it may not feel like it but having that in your life may actually mean that you make more of the time you have whether it is 60 years or 120 years! I think living to be 100 and coming to the end with regrets and the feeling you wasted your time is worse than living life to the full and dying young.

Maybe that attributes slightly to my manic-depression. I want to fill so much into a short amount of time...and some times I'm helpless to do anything. Such is life.

Who knows? It is unlikely to be the only factor but it may well contribute to it. With most mental illness the belief is that it is part genetic and part environmental factors. Having that "expiry" date on your mind is a pretty strong environmental factor/pressure for getting on with things and that may well exacerbate an underlying genetic tendency.

Thank you for such a great response.