“We are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not Ill-supplied but wasteful of it.”
Seneca
Have you ever connected with older generations, and realized it’s always the same? The human condition seems hellbent on killing the world. Not intentionally, but by wanting to perpetuate a standard of living founded on capitalism. We strive for what they tell us is “success”. In the past, it was a white picket fence and a nuclear family, a television, and a refrigerator. Now we want the latest Apple tech, we want a home in both the real world and Metaverse, and we want to be celebrated across all social platforms like some sort of demi-god D-list celebrity. Well not ALL of us want this, but this seems to be the trending sentiment.
I read “Letters From A Stoic” by Seneca recently, and everything he talked about was 99% still relevant to the human condition today. For context, Seneca was a philosopher who was born in Spain over 2,000 years ago. He was educated in Rome, and then exiled to Corsica. Anyways… What did Seneca have to say? Here are his top 3 lessons, among many others.
Find an anchor:
“You want to live-but do you know how to live? You are scared of dying-and, tell me, is the kind of life you lead really any different from being dead?”
What a great question. “Is the life you lead any different from being dead?” I interpret this to mean that your life should have some sort of purpose. If you don’t have a path founded with some sort of goal you’re just floating around, which isn’t really living. I think most people seem to anchor their life in achieving monetary success – because we align money with power and significance. We are also inundated with content like the Kardashians, who don’t seem to have any goals other than to influence our standards of beauty to the completely unattainable and to maintain their status of wealth. Where are the people who are giving us real food for thought? What we need more of are educators, not influencers. What are you living for and why? Do you have an anchor? I’m still finding mine, but I think for the most part it’s living a peaceful life and making a positive impact in some way. TBD.
Never be a slave to your wealth:
“For men in a state of freedom had thatch for their shelter, while slavery dwells beneath marble and gold.”
I think this statement reinforces the first lesson. If your anchor is wealth, how can you really be alive? It’s like chasing the rabbit at a dog race. The standard of wealth is always going. Moreover, sometimes, we are presented with situations that make us have to choose between wealth and ethics. When this happens, most people seem to choose wealth. For example, look at the oil industry. Look at our Earth on fire. Climate change is here. But many want gas-guzzling vehicles that make loud noises (most of which are men trying to prove their ‘masculinity’) and we want all the things that we’re told make us part of a class of human beings considered within the “wealth” category. We all need money to survive (if you live in the parts of the world that have an economy – there are a few who just live completely off the grid). Perhaps we have a fear of poverty, which makes us run in the other direction. When we’re running so far and so fast, our path blurs and we forget the other parts of life along the way. What’s your relationship to wealth?
Fight your ego:
”You have to persevere and fortify your pertinacity until the will to good becomes a disposition to good.”
Basically, find a goal that you pursue that comes from a real place. It seems like many of us tend to pursue a life that supplements the ego/”justifies” our significance in this world. For example, your goal is wealth and you want the newest car, biggest house, flashiest lifestyle… When you retreat into your mind at night, sans Lunesta, are you truly happy? When you make a decision, is it always to serve your interests? Or are you considering the impact your decisions make on others?
Other stuff….
The only thing I didn’t agree with was that he believed that “animals were not truly happy” since he reasoned they had “no intellect”. I think animals are smart and they teach us how to be present. They’ve lived longer than us and they give us so much. I’ve seen my dog sad and happy – I’ve seen animals display a colorful variety of emotions that require a certain level of intellect to express.
No one is perfect. Life is unfair. We all know this. But can we do more to improve the quality and substance of life for all? Can you breathe through hardships, and not ground yourself in anger should you survive? Extreme emotions are all ego. It’s normal to feel. Let it pass through you, but don’t let it control you. Probably the most difficult way to live, but much better than drowning until we hit the ultimate state of unconsciousness, death.
Thoughts and Stuff 