Memento Mori- You will die, remember that

Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day. The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time- Seneca

A huge part of stoic philosophy is acceptance of the mortal life. Sounds depressing, doesn't it? To constantly be reminded that you will die one day. Most of us do not like to think of death. And for people in their youth, early 20's and so on, we consider death to be so far off from us that we never even stop to consider its possibility today.

And yet, no one can ever be certain of how long they have to live.

Just think for a moment. How would your life change if I told you today that you had just 5 years left to live? How about 5 months? 5 weeks? 5 days?

Death gives us the clarity we never thought possible. In Greek mythology, it is said that the Gods were jealous of humans because of our mortality. Because any moment could be our last. And that made sure things mattered to us in a way they could never matter to someone immortal. If you have all the time in the world to do anything you ever wanted, would you end up doing everything or nothing? You might think the former, but the latter is more probable.

So stoicism tells us to make the best of our living lives. Because there is a deadline. There is a time where you wouldn't be able to tell the people you love, that you love them. There is a time when it won't be possible for you to work on the dreams you want to come true. The finish line exists and every single moment is getting us closer to it.

The past is gone and we cannot have that. The future is fluid and may or may not be ours. So all we have is today and right now. The present moment, slipping away like grains of sand, unless we choose to do something about it.

So, how do you intend to use it?

Think about it, and until then, Memento Mori.