{"id":1732,"date":"2024-03-14T13:34:15","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T20:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meditationsbybilly.com\/?p=1732"},"modified":"2024-03-14T13:34:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T20:34:16","slug":"the-present-is-all-you-ever-have","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meditationsbybilly.com\/the-daily-stoic\/03\/14\/the-present-is-all-you-ever-have\/","title":{"rendered":"The Present Is All You Ever Have"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
“Were you to live three thousand years, or even a countless multiple of that, keep in mind that no one ever loses a life other than the one they are living, and no one ever lives a life other than the one they are losing. The longest and the shortest life, then, amount to the same, for the present moment lasts the same for all and is all anyone possesses. No one can lose either the past or the future, for how can someone be deprived of what’s not theirs?”<\/p>MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS<\/em>, 2.14<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The quote from today’s entry in The Daily Stoic is all about living in the present \u2014 and how the present is all you ever have<\/strong>, anyways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can’t live a different life than the one you’re currently living. And you can’t have a future that belongs to someone else, or even an alternate version of your own future. The past is likewise unchangeable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ryan Holiday points out that obsesssing over the past or the future is actually a form of ungratefulness<\/em>, by definition. I hadn’t considered that. That’s important, because being regularly thankful is one of the most important things you can do<\/a>. Nothing has had a more profound impact on my own day-to-day experience of life than intentionally setting aside time to be grateful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n