Weekly Stoic: You Could Leave Life Right Now

The most powerful and wisest men who ever lived were always finding ways to remind themselves of being mortal for ages. Their art says it. Their writings elaborate on it. Even their desks were designed with totems that reminded them of the urgency of life.

They would hold on to these reminders and always have them close to their bodies. Wearing cufflinks, wearing rings and sometimes even tattoos. They never, for a moment, wanted to forget that they can go at any time. 

Always remembering that fact, is one of the essential Stoic exercises.

It does not come as a surprise that Seneca named one of his biographies “Dying Every Day.” It is Seneca himself who urged and advised us to tell ourselves “You may not wake up tomorrow when going to bed, and you may not sleep again after waking up.” As a reminder of our mortality.

Epictetus, also another Stoic, repeatedly urged his students: “Keep death and exile before your eyes each day, along with everything that seems terrible. By doing so, you will never have a base thought, nor will you have an excessive desire in this world.”

Read also: What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do.

Marcus Aurelius wrote in meditations: “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do, say and think.” 

These are all personal reminders to continue living a life of virtue and amicability.

This will only sound depressing if you miss the point. But if properly understood, the term, “you could leave life right now,” is a powerful tool that will create priority and meaning in your life. To treat your time as a gift and not waste it on trends and less relevant matters. 

Death does not make our lives pointless but rather purposeful. Fortunately, we don’t even have to almost die to tap into this. A simple reminder of the inevitable can bring you closer to living the life you desire. 

The stoics remind us not to obsess over trivialities, trying to become famous, make more money than we could ever spend, or plan far off in the future. All these are negated by death. 

“You could leave life right now.” That term should determine what you do and say and think. It is a universal reminder which we all need. It doesn’t matter who you are or how many unfinished businesses you have left to be done. 

A runaway car could hit you in an intersection and make you never walk again, you could be murdered by robbers, or killed by a global pandemic, and that’s it. It could all be over. Today, tomorrow, someday, soon.

It’s time you stop pretending otherwise and instead prepare and accept the inevitable.

Source: Daily Stoic