Most people go through life acting like they’ll live forever.
This is one of the biggest reasons why obesity is such a big issue in the world right now. Health problems might be scary, but clearly not scary enough.
There are lots of other tangible ways this lack of awareness of our mortality impacts our lives, be it with our health, our relationships, our finances, and more. There are lots we can talk about, but one of the biggest ways this lack of awareness impacts us negatively is internally, by being a contributor to our unhappiness.
This happens because most people have a tendency to take even small things really seriously. This is why even the way someone looks at you might annoy you, or even the smallest thing someone says to you can upset you.
The thing is, if you really focused on the reality of our impermanence and mortality, the reality that we can actually die at any second. Touch wood you won’t, but you never know.
No one knows when their time is up.
The ancient Romans had a ritual around a phrase that encapsulated this undeniable truth about life. During victory parades, soldiers would keep whispering the phrase “memento mori”, which means “remember that you must die”.
It was not a morbid obsession, but rather a very practical strategy for keeping the generals and the soldiers grounded in reality.
The point is, death might seem scary or unpleasant, but it is unavoidable, unescapable, and undeniable. It does not matter who you are, no one can escape this reality. But what’s even more important for the purpose of this note is that remembering that death can come knock on your door at any moment will remind us of another very important fact.
The fact that life is short.
No one has as much time as they think they do, and no one knows when their time is up. Keeping in mind this truth can help you escape a lot of the self-made agony and pain, because in the grand scheme of things very few things are really worth getting unhappy over.
Like pretty much everything in life, it comes down to what choice you make. Make no mistake, it is a choice, even if it doesn’t feel like it. It is a choice because you can’t do both at the same time.
It is a choice because you can only do one of these at any time. And it is a choice because you can decide which of these two options you will opt for.
You can choose. Here are your two choices: You can spend all your time, focus and energy on things that ultimately don’t matter (and fabricate unhappiness, stress, anxiety, and so on).
Or, you can choose to focus on what really does matter, and enjoy every moment of your life as if it was the last one. Because for all you know, this moment could very well be your last one. So make it matter, and enjoy it.
Think about the big picture,
Salek
P.S. Life is short, and that makes the time you have immensely valuable. Because once gone, you can never get time back. Learn more about making the most of your time here > How to Best Use the Time When You Don't Feel Like Working