Welcome to Stoic Snippets,
The track that is short in time but not in depth.
Here is a sad fact.
Most people sleepwalk through life.
That was true when Heraclitus wrote this 2,
000 years ago and I'm sure you know it's true today.
Most people do the same thing day in and day out,
Dreaming of another life but never quite doing anything about it.
Distracted by endless content that is available to them every minute of the day.
And most people will do pretty much anything not to stop and take stock of their lives.
This is a tragedy and one of the worst types of tragedies.
Not the ones that have an exciting finale or crescendo or final boss,
But the type that just fizzles out one mundane step at a time.
This is their wake-up call and this is your wake-up call.
A life not examined is a life not worth living,
As Socrates said.
Why?
Because the world is truly a wonderful place and you are truly a wonderful creature.
You were not made to live a small life.
You were not made to bury your head in the sand or in any device that you may have on you.
You were made for more.
Stop drifting.
Sprint to the finish.
Write off your hopes and if your well-being matters to you,
Be your own savior while you can.
That was Marcus Aurelius and I'd love to examine this sentence in a bit more detail.
Now writing off your hopes sounds like the opposite of what we want,
But the point that Marcus Aurelius is making here is that you shouldn't be daydreaming.
You should be daydoing.
Don't have hopes.
Have plans.
Don't dream.
Do.
As he brilliantly points out,
No one is coming to save you from your fate.
They're all too busy.
You're gonna have to be your own savior.
I know this resonates with you.
I know this will touch something in you,
But please don't just let this be a punctuation to your slumber.
Let it jolt you to life and help you take stock and ownership of your life.
The world needs you and it needs all of you.
So stop hiding,
Stop sleepwalking and let's get to work.
As Epictetus writes,
A person is not lazy if he is unwilling to rise from sleep,
But rather if he is unwilling to act upon his duties when he's awake.
To help you with this end,
I want to ask you a simple question.
What skills do you have that you think you could make the world a better place with?
And to what degree are you using those skills right now?
That's worth thinking about.
You should be operating at your highest capacity with your skills.
And to help you get motivated to do this,
I'll leave you with this from Marcus Aurelius.
Don't you see the plants,
The birds,
The ants and the spiders,
The bees,
Going about their individual tasks,
Putting the world to order as best they can?
And you're not willing to do your job as a human being?
Why aren't you running to do what your nature demands?
So go out there,
Find your nature and fulfill it.
Good luck out there.
If you're looking for more inspiration to live a more stoic life,
Then please consider checking out my retreats on my profile page.
They're available this year and I'm looking forward to seeing you and many others on them.
See you soon.
