Remember You Will Die - Memento Mori

Times are uncertain right now. In situations like this, I look to the ancient stoic wisdom: Memento Mori. “Remember you are going to die.” This is the only certainty about the future. Do I think I am going to die of Coronavirus? Certainly not. Do I think I’m going to get shot by a toilet paper thief in the panic of our economic collapse? No, I don’t. But the fact of the matter is the same… I am going to die, and I don’t know when. This makes time our most precious resource. When we take a moment to look at how we spend it, something profound emerges. 

Let’s say you are 28 years old. If you average an 8-hour workday until you retire, you’re going to spend 81,432 hours working. That’s a huge chunk of your life you are going to be working. But there is a subtle, insidious story here. 

The concept of “retirement” implies you are doing something with this massive chunk of your working life, that you wouldn’t do if you had the choice. 

Let that sink in for a moment. 

Most of us believe “work” is something we are all engaged in just to make money. Meaning, if it wasn’t for the money, we wouldn’t do it. That’s why we say “I have to go to work, rather than “I get to go to work.”

This is a broken story, contrived around the industrial revolution when people were reduced to human robots screwing bolts or punching rivets on a conveyor belt. Their work was like the CD of their life had been scratched and kept playing the same screeching sound over and over. This type of ‘work’ robs us of one of the most sacred callings – the call to find our true purpose, to seek mastery in the skills that would help us manifest that purpose, and use our unique combination of those skills to improve the world. 

Throughout my life, I have been on this quest to find my true passion, but I recently realized that this can be found in anything we do! Take a look at what you are currently doing for fun or for work and I can guarantee you will find a purpose, a way to help someone, a way to improve someone's life because you were part of it.

If you don’t know what your purpose is, then take a step back and remove yourself from the equation. Think about today and if it were your last day what would you do? I guarantee you would think differently, you would reach out to that co-worker and help them be a better version of themself. You would reach out to your childhood friend that you haven't spoken to in years because of some silly argument that neither of you can remember in detail. Even a smile, a thank you, can make someone's day.

Make today positive and meaningful!

So much love,

Christian