#016: Learnings on Living and Dying

My grandfather lived a short life. Born in the 1930s in a small Liberian town to uneducated parents, he worked his way up to become an astute politician. His integrity earned him a reputation that has lasted to this day, over 30 years after his death. Reading about stoicism and reflecting on my own life reminds me of something I have known ever since I was a child:

Life is short.

Not only is your life short, it's getting shorter every day. But even if your life is long, there's no guarantee that all your faculties will remain intact. You could lose your memories, your understanding, and your power of contemplation, all of which strive to acquire knowledge of the divine and human.

Don't waste the remainder of your life thinking about others—what they are doing, why, and what they are saying or thinking—especially when there is no common utility. You lose the opportunity to do something more useful.

Like most things in nature, from plants to animals and even hard times, nothing lasts forever. Change is the only constant. In fact, the person you were a few moments before reading this is different from the person you are now.

Not only is life short, but its end is often abrupt.

It's essential to live life with urgency. Don't delay in striving to be among the best, as Marcus Aurelius says, "For the man who achieves this, no longer delaying to be among the best, is akin to a priest and minister of the gods, utilizing the divine spark within him."

There is something beautiful and godly about living life with urgency, knowing that the time you have on this earth is finite and that while you are here, you must use it to the best of your abilities.

Given the possibility that you could depart from life at any moment, do the right thing now. Don't postpone being good.

Whether you live three thousand years or ten times as many, remember, as Marcus Aurelius says, "no man loses any other life than the one he now lives, nor lives any other life than the one he now loses. The longest and shortest lives are thus made equal."

I never met my grandfather. He was killed a few months before I was born, but even posthumously, he taught me that even a short life can be impactful and well-lived.

Therefore, focus on the present. Give your best now. Take that leap of faith.0