Not just that every day more of our life is used up and less and less of it is left, but this too: if we live longer, can we be sure our mind will still be up to understanding the world, to the contemplation that aims at divine and human knowledge? If our mind starts to wander, we'll still go on breathing, go on eating, imagining things, feeling urges and so on. But getting the most out of our selves, calculating where our duty lies, analyzing what we hear and see, deciding whether it's time to call it quits-all the things you need a healthy mind for... all those are gone.
So we need to hurry.
Not just because we move daily closer to death but also because our understanding-our grasp of the world may be gone before we get there. (Aurelius, 2003).
This is one of the many meditations of Marcus Aurelius. While it might seem he feared death, in reality, he believed that when death arrived at his door, it should be accepted without resistance, as he knew that joy and pain were simply two sides of the same coin. However, analyzing the meditation at the beginning, it becomes clear that we should remain in a constant state of alertness and discernment, striving to make the most of each day and every minute (even Marcus Aurelius meditated on things that often hindered him).
Interestingly, one might think that achieving mastery of what we consider a “life path,” “goals,” “desires,” or “ambitions” would signify self-realization. Yet Marcus Aurelius notes the irony in such thinking.
Hippocrates cured many illnesses-and then felll ill and died. The Chaldaeans predicted the deaths of many others; in due course their own hour arrived. Alexander, Pompey, Caesar-who utterly destroyed so many cities, cut down so many thousand foot horse in battle-they too departed this life. Heraclitus often told us the world would end in fire. But it was moisture that carried him off; he died smeared with cowshit. Democritus was killed by ordinary vermin, Socrates by the human kind.
And?
You boarded, you set sail, you've made the passage. Time to disembark. If it's for another life, well, there's nowhere without gods on that side either. If to nothingness. then you no longer have to put up with pain and pleasure, or go on dancing attendance on his battered crate, your body-so much inferior to that which serves it.
One is mind and spirit, the other earth and garbage (Aurelius, 2003).
Thus, one can ask the same question Marcus Aurelius posed: “And?” However, I propose reframing the question into two: What are you waiting for? And how are you waiting?
This section does not intend to provide hard answers but to pose questions that you can reflect on at your own pace. I will merely present a brief summary of my thoughts after asking myself these two questions.
What am I waiting for?
This question can be explored from many angles. If we ask someone, “What are you waiting for in life?” responses might include: “I hope to be famous,” “I hope for stability,” “I hope to find love,” “I hope to be wealthy,” or even, “I don’t know what I am waiting for.” None of these answers is wrong, as they reflect individual contexts.
However, caution is needed if what we are waiting for is like a balloon that can burst with just the tip of a pin.
In today’s world, we are hyperconnected but rarely present. Countless standards demand our attention, and an overload of information saturates us. The information that stands out is often the loudest or brightest, and advertisers have even reduced their attention-capturing window from five to three seconds, knowing that a simple “swipe” can give us what we want instantly.
This leads us to a somewhat distorted reality, where we desire everything immediately:
Want to be rich? Show off a designer bag or luxury car.
Want love? Download an app.
Want fame? Become an influencer, sorry, I mean a content creator (not all content creators are influencers).
Want stability? Do an hour of yoga.
Ultimately, it seems we desire without waiting, as everything must be immediate and easy. And while this may provide momentary satisfaction, it is not lasting in the slightest.
How am I waiting?
This second question seems more challenging. Today, we tend to think that “everything should be tailored to me,” thanks to personalized marketing and hyper-segmentation, which encourages the notion of “making life easier.” Do you see the pattern?
Remember slogans like “Open Happiness” (Coca-Cola) or “Where dreams come true” (Disney)? I am not suggesting these brands caused our problems; rather, we allowed ourselves to be dazzled by immediacy without substance.
Notice what these desires, “I hope to be famous,” “I hope for stability,” “I hope to find love,” “I hope to be wealthy,” and even “I don’t know” have in common: they all require effort, consistency, and perseverance. If I may suggest an almost axiomatic principle in this process, it is essence.
As I once heard: “In our reality, social media is like a mirage in the desert of people’s lives.” We see someone with fame, money, love, or whatever, and the immediate thought is, “I want that too.” But rarely do we consider: “How much did it cost them to get there?” Even those who appear to have attained a position effortlessly had to pay their dues. Yet the person who attained it may be nothing more than a balloon, easily deflated.
Therefore, remember: to achieve something, you must work for it. And upon attaining it (if you can achieve it), let your actions, not words, demonstrate the value that brought you there. If you do not achieve it? Keep working toward your goal. Do not assume that achievement will give you rest.
As Marcus Aurelius reflected:
"If you seek tranquillity, do less." Or (more accurately) do what's essential-what the logos of a social being requires, and in the requisite way. Which brings a double satisfaction: to do less better [...] (Aurelius, 2003).
Were you expecting answers to “What are you waiting for?” and “How are you waiting?”
I cannot provide them, only you can answer these questions for yourself, and to do so, you must work for them. :p
Until next time.
Satoricha ~
References
Aurelius, M. (2003). Meditations (G. Hays, Trans.). Random House Publishing Group.
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