“You are afraid of dying. But, come now, how is this life of yours anything but death?”
SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 77.18
What is so great about your life right now that makes you afraid of dying? What are you trying to hold onto? Is all the time-wasting and mindless routine that you engage in really something that you’re afraid of losing? Ask yourself this: am I even alive at all? That’s the core question in today’s quote above from The Daily Stoic.
If you’re so afraid of dying, then why not make your life worth saving, and worth living in the first place — more so than it is now? Why not spend your time living more fully? That’s how you combat death: with life! Live life deeply, like a dying person, while you still can.
Personally, I am afraid of dying, actually. I’ll admit it. But to be more clear, I’m afraid of dying without having truly lived. I spend far too much time in front of a computer screen, doing work for somebody else, spending time on meaningless tasks and pointless busywork. When the day is almost done, I have very little energy left for actually living. That sucks.
So I’m about to do something that really scares me, and implement a big life change. I’m thinking about potentially moving with my family to another country and starting over (more on that later). It’s terrifying — but at least I’ll know that I’m alive. And to me that’s worth the risk.
