Ever think you should be further ahead in life?

This is something I ponder around my birthday. It’s always the same: 

• I’m not as successful as I’d hoped
• I don’t own a house or a cottage on the lake
• My bank account screams whenever I make a large purchase (inflation, amirite 🫠) 

This type of thinking is demoralizing. And it’s pointless. 

So, this year I broke the pattern using Stoicism. Here’s how.

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Do you know the meaning of ‘memento mori’?

It’s a Latin phrase, a reminder that you must die.

Many of the Stoic philosophers used it as a reminder of their mortality.

A reminder of how temporary life is. How everything you hold dear can vanish in an instant. And how once you’re gone, none of it matters.

Sounds bleak on the surface. Go deeper and it’s empowering. 

Memento mori reminds you to focus on what’s truly important—this moment, the here and now.

Too often, we look to the future, thinking we’ll be happier when… More successful after… Or we ruminate on the past, the what ifs and if onlys. 

In doing so, we give away what little time we have. With those we love and with what brings us joy. We rob ourselves of the only time we own: the present. 

“Each of us only lives now. This brief instant. The rest has been lived already, or is impossible to see.”

– Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (book 3, entry 10)

There’s another Latin phrase worth remembering: ‘memento vivere’. You must live. 

Don’t waste the breath in your chest or fleeting moments of happiness. Fate will work itself out. 

Be patient. Be present. Be thankful for another day, month, year.

Everything in life is temporary. Make the most of it.