Stoicism for a Better Life – Weekly exercise (September 6, 2020)

Hello there, 

For this week’s exercise, let us find some inspiration from the last great emperor of Rome. This is from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations X 29:

“In every act of thine pause at each step and ask thyself: Is death to be dreaded for the loss of this?”  

So powerful. So sobering. I say this all the time but Marcus Aurelius’ words have a way of cutting to the heart of some very clear issues that I tend to ignore. And I know you feel the same way too.

Keep in mind, the Meditations were written mainly towards the back end of his life, during a war campaign in Sirmium and Pannonia. When reading the excerpts of the Meditations, it’s all too easy to forget that he would have written these words to himself in the evening, when he took the time to check-in with himself. But the ideas and lessons are so pertinent and relatable, it does come across as if it were written specifically for us.

In any case, here Marcus is making a direct appeal to the value of time. We are alive and conscious for such a short period of time. A “lifetime” is but a flash in the pan, and yet we tend to forget this and live in ignorance of how quickly we will die, perish and turn into dust like the over 90 billion human beings that came before us. The lesson here essentially is this: In contemplating the many options you have in front of you in any given situation, which option is worth spending your time on? 

So as a practical exercise this week, try and use this question as often as you can: Is this truly worth my precious limited time? And don’t deceive yourself. You are dying…everyday…every moment. If time is the only thing we truly have and the only resource we cannot replenish, shouldn’t you then spend it in the best possible way? Instead of just…doing what you think you should be doing? Because you’ve always done it so? Or because someone told you so? No. Make the conscious and conscientious decision for yourself, and spend your time in a manner that will make it worth losing/spending it when you die.

This is a very powerful one. Try it out, and share some of your experiences if you want (Twitter, Reddit or Patreon). Did you end up changing something in your routine? Or find a new appreciation for something you were already doing? Or perhaps you had trouble relating to this one? 

Anderson Silver

(Author of “Your User’s Manual” and “Vol 2: Your Duality Within”)