With The End In Mind

In 200 years from now we’ll all be death. I’m not predicting an apocalypse, I’m just stating the fact that humans don’t live that long (not yet at least). With the end in mind, we need to look into our things to get rid of that which isn’t useful.

The value of most items we collect is unique to us. Your entourage likely doesn’t understand the value of what you own. Your baseball cards collection, for example, may end up in the trash after your passing because the person responsible for your belongings didn’t understand the value of it. While your collection may of brought you joy in your life it will serve no purpose in your death and may be discarded, by someone who doesn’t understand its value, after your passing.

“No one can have everything they wish for, but anyone can choose not to desire what they lack and instead be content with what they have.”
-Seneca

My mother recently showed me a shirt she bought 15 years ago that she never wore as she was saving it for a “special occasion”. What’s the point of carrying around an item for this long without using it? She could have passed away during these 15 years and that “special occasion” shirt would never of been worn.

My dad once said that the more things you have the more things that owns you as you’re stuck taking care of it all. Look at what you own and get rid of the things that doesn’t serve you.

“It's not the person who has too little, but the one who always wants more, who is truly poor. What does it matter how much wealth someone has stored away, how large their flocks are, or how fat their dividends are, if they are still coveting their neighbor's property, and measuring their worth not by what they have but by what they hope to gain? Do you want to know the proper limit to wealth? It's having what is necessary and what is enough.”
Excerpt From
Letters from a Stoic: Modern English Edition
Lucius Seneca

Stop Lying to Yourself

 “A lie, repeated often enough, will end up as truth.” -Dr Paul Joseph Goebbels

The lies we tell ourselves, over time, becomes believable. If we look at ourselves in the mirror, see an overweight person, and either ignore the problem or think to ourselves “we don’t look too bad” then we’re robbing ourselves of our ability to improve.

Be honest with yourself…

"If you are not honest with yourself, you will not be capable of honesty with others."-John C. Maxwell

Honesty starts at home. The lies we tell ourselves are robbing us of our potential. It's not possible to make the right decisions with the wrong information.

We don’t know what we don’t know…

Even if we’re honest with ourselves, sometimes we don’t know what our faults are as mirrors can only show what’s most obvious. This is where meditation and mentors come into play. Spend some time reading/meditating and ask someone you trust to help point out some of your faults - what, they believe, would make you a better person once resolved.

"Self awareness is realizing that you are fighting against yourself. There is no opponent." -Unknown

Forgiveness To Move On

 

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

-Mahatma Gandhi A

The "strong" sometime ask for forgiveness even when they know they're right only because they want to bring the matter to a close. As a kid, I used to believe that adults knew everything and could do no wrong but now that I'm an adult I find that not only it isn't the case but many still think like children especially during heated arguments. 

Asking for forgiveness also comes easier, to a "strong" individual that is in the right, because there's an understanding that adults have internal battles that may be clouding the opponent's judgement at the time of the argument.

“A person cannot be a good protector of their country, a good avenger of wrongs, or a good defender of their friends if they are inclined toward pleasure.”

-Lucius Seneca

In Freedom We Are The Problem

I don't believe that the last American election was rigged. I believe 77 million Americans wanted a convicted felon, that said such things as "I will be a Dictator for one day", to represent them. 

All over the world there is a growing frustration with "the cost of living" and we are blaming Governments for this problem. The perceived solution is to remove the current form of Government to replace it with one that won't make the same mistakes. 

It's not wrong to want changes but the Government isn't to blame.

If the Government was your spouse and they cheated on you... you would want to get rid of them. The issue is, in the case of a Government with freedoms and Rights, that in every and all instances where this sort of change happened the subsequent Government was always worse. It's a little bit like leaving your cheating spouse and then start dating someone that cheats AND is abusive.

Living in a country with freedoms and the right to vote means that WE get to pick who will be the representing our country. Since WE pick them, WE are responsible for the successes and failures of the of party.

In a free country, the Government is a representation of its people. The Government didn't create the problem as much as we told them to do it. Every year, millions of dollars is spent trying to figure out what WE want from our Government and what WE want is more spending. This information is used to create future campaign promises and we vote for them.

In a free country, the solution isn't to change the form of Government when things are bad but to change what WE THE PEOPLE want from our Government. We've reach a point now where we need to stop asking for "free stuff" and instead look at balancing the budget and get us out of all this debt.

Whether it be a Federal Presidential Republic (USA), a Liberal Democracy (Canada) or any other form of Government where the people have a voice is the best form of Government.

Wherever you go There YOU Are

Someone who hasn’t found peace within himself will not find peace outside of himself. It doesn’t matter where he goes, or what he does, the person that he is will be there with him.

"When a man is getting better he understands more clearly the evil that is left in him... A moderatly bad man knows he is not very good; a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right."
-C.S.Lewis

We gain peace through our actions; by doing the right things. In order to do those things, the right way, we must first learn about what those things are which is where Philosophy comes into play. Seneca, in his “letters from a stoic” work, believes the right things can be found in stoicism - to live in accordance with nature and to control our wants (as they may be as infinite as the universe itself).

“Enough is never too little, and not enough is never enough.”
-Seneca

Spend some time reflecting on what you’re doing on a daily basis. Are there areas that could be improved? Are you exercising enough? Are you eating correctly? How do you sleep? Are you helping others? Are you spending enough time with those close to you? Are you reading enough? Are you living below your means? Are you following through on your promises?

Recommended Readings:

• “Living issues in Philosophy” by Harold Titus & Marilyn Smith
• “Letters from a Stoic” by Seneca
• “Meditation” by Marcus Aurelius