Memento Mori…
“Remember Death” or more personally “Remember that you will die”.
Why in the name of witliesbosbontrokkies should we ponder such morbid thoughts?
Is it not healthier to favour positivity, avoid contemplation of our inescapable mortality?
From as early as Democritus (a pre-Socratic philosopher), Seneca and Epictetus all the way through to more modern thinkers, the value of this seemingly macabre practice has been extolled. It is not the actual consideration of death itself, but rather the consequence thereof which I find of value…carpe diem.
Waking up to this is the first step, the second more challenging, is retaining resolve.
As a wakened young adult I embraced this philosophy and truly engaged life with gusto. Excelling and thriving in everything I tackled, from being a fireman in the Airforce to embarking on my guiding qualifications and career to obtaining a microlight pilot licence and travelling overland in trucks and on motorbike. This provided an incredible sense of firing on all cylinders…of being ALIVE! Any setbacks were considered temporary speed-bumps and rolling with the punches became protocol.
Despite being of proportionate import as I age, it ironically proves so easy to still fall asleep at the wheel. It seems that my tenacity has weakened with the comforts of living a privileged and good life, breeding complacency which in turn results in inertia. Discovering a song by the title “Memento Mori” recently jolted me out of this inertia and prompted remembrance.
“No person hands out their money to passersby, but to how many do each of us hand out our lives! We are tightfisted with property and money, yet think too little of wasting time, the only thing about which we should be the toughest misers.” - Seneca
So what exactly does ”wasting” time constitute? We could see time in either micro or macro scale, the former is like fine-tuning performance settings on a flying plane and the latter more akin to navigating to a specific destination. When we think about wasting time it is usually in terms of the less consequential micro-scale…procrastination and a myriad other distractions which interferes with our daly To-Do list. The fundamental macro-scale of the bigger-picture of life is asking: ”Am I really pursuing a path aligned with my passion, to truly live…or am I merely existing?”
“Stop whatever you are doing for a moment and ask yourself: Am I afraid of death because I won’t be able to do this anymore?” - Marcus Aurelius
Modernity bombards us with so many distractions. Sensory-overload through TV, radio, consumerist advertising, news, social media, etc, etc ad nauseam, all result in desensitisation. This numbing to life is a portal to neglecting that which matters most-friends, family and other loved ones, which should include ourselves!
A misguided fear of being perceived as selfish, can also become an unnecessary self-imposed obstacle to seriously considering what it is that each of us need to be wholesome. The greatest gift we could ever give ourselves (finding meaning) and the world, is to express ourselves authentically. To achieve this however requires sincere introspection and brutal honesty.
I am fortunate that I prioritised my navigational calculations very early on in life, and consequently am not off-course in my pursuit of meaningful living. I do however fall victim to procrastination and not performing optimally, compromising the achievement of my additional professional and extramural goals. Besides new exciting itineraries which I shall share shortly, there are a score of objectives which have ended up on the periphery of my cooking-fire…not because life pushed them there…but because I allowed my fire to dwindle…time for a conflagration!
“Help isn’t coming, because you are already here!” - Ann Wilson
There is absolutely no external source which can or should make this decision on our behalf. Plotting a course to a desired destination is far more critical than tweaking your performance, but flying in the wrong direction. Sober contemplation is required, consider this most fundamental of aspects…time dedicated to this, is NOT wasted!
“You are scared of dying, but tell me, is the kind of life you lead really any different to being dead?” - Seneca
Emancipating ourselves from the addictive distractions of the hamster-wheel is paramount to realising the course-correction required in our navigational calculations and setting of peak performance.
There is however one caveat, avoid having this sacred opportunity contaminated by packing the hamster-wheel. Be willing to do things differently, become aware of and relinquish subconsciously imposed expectations and prejudices.
I find that mindfully spending time in nature (not pursuing any specific objective) is most conducive to honest and deep introspection. Find your own brave act of self-compassion regardless, you owe it to yourself and the world.
Discovering how we could optimally lead a meaningful life, is the most sacred of pursuits and deserves nothing less than undivided commitment. Life is not a dress-rehearsal.
Don’t fear death…fear NOT LIVING!
Yours in living,