“Time is relative to space. One earth year means nothing on Betazed.”
The Betazedites might disagree. Then again, they are more concerned with global warming then how much an earth year is.
Time is relative from a different perspective. ;o)
There are bugs that only live for hours to days at a time (cicadas as an example). All life has a cycle. In this way we must assume that “a lifetime” is a standard but specific measure to every species on earth. There are reptiles that live 150+ years. I think there were dinasours that may have lived hundreds of years. Of course, the Old Testament (before consistent literacy) refers to certain profits and persons living thousands of years (perception based on the understood normal life expectancy?). Only a few thousand years ago, human life expectancy was considerably shorter.
So, I ask, “What is a long time?”