They keep telling themselves that, someday, they’ll amend their ways – but they never do.įor some, by the time they feel that the moment is right, they’re too old or too weak to change their habits. They only stop drifting when they are too tired or too old to carry on.Īnd then there are those who devote their prime years to lust, greed and gluttony. Other people, through sheer apathy, are happy to be buffeted about by the waves. They worry they’re not headed in the right direction and they pine for what they’ve left behind.

Some people are happy to spend their lives tacking and jibing through the wind, constantly changing direction. Of course, it’s important to plot a course and then stick to it, but it’s also worth remembering that not every path should be pursued. Pitching, rolling and yawing aren’t substitutes for living.

It would be inaccurate to claim that, during this time, it had steered a successful and purposeful course, even if it did make it safely back to harbor. Say a ship left port and spent the next year being thrown about by a mighty storm. In fact, there is nothing more suitable than a single burning candle, an apt symbol for the shortness of human life. But funerals ought to be simple symbolic affairs. Or they’ll draw up plans for giant tombs. They'll be thinking of that pithy remark in their obituary. These people get wrapped up in planning for a posterity that’s not even theirs. They’ll always be thinking of how their current thrill will soon end, or where their next one will come from.īut worst of all are those who seek glory after death. These people can't even enjoy their indulgences. Life will also seem short to those who pursue a life of luxury. The Roman Empire depended on him, and he could never pull himself away. He spoke endlessly of quietude, of the calm and rest he’d enjoy upon retirement from his public duties. What usually happens is this: people spend their life preparing for life. People tend to think that, once they’ve achieved all their goals, they’ll have time to enjoy life. You’ll always have your eye on some future goal and won’t be able to enjoy your current situation. For instance, life will seem especially short if you only pursue status or power. Most people spend the majority of their time engaged in trivial activities – even if these activities don’t seem trivial to them.īut the thing about trivial activities is that they make life seem short. People have always been good at wasting time. Life is short if you waste it on trivialities. why you shouldn’t plan an ornate funeral.how we can find pleasure without pursuing it and.that reading will give your life more meaning.And many of the answers they offered still make good sense. Indeed, the questions that plagued the Stoics continue to trouble us today. Adhering to the Stoic tradition of accepting one’s place in the world, many of his thoughts ring as true today as they did back then. But he wrote down his ideas on how to combat that feeling and how to make sure one does something useful with one’s life.Ī tutor to Nero, the infamous Roman emperor who – according to legend – played violin while Rome burned to the ground, Seneca was one of his age's most prominent thinkers and playwrights. In fact, a man named Seneca the Younger, who died almost two thousand years ago, had the same feeling. Have you ever had the feeling that life is passing you by? Or that, despite your best intentions, you’re wasting your time? Well, you’re not alone.

Stoic coffee break