“Yes, I see, Captain. They would’ve learned to wear skins, adopted stoic mannerisms, learned the bow and the lance.” – Star Trek: TOS
I guess I’ll admit I’m a Marxist. A Groucho Marxist. (All memes but the first one are as-found.)
One of Seneca’s (Dead Roman Philosopher Dude) most famous quotes is, “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.” What surprises me is that Seneca wrote this before Twitter® existed. But even back in the time of Rome, there were ways to waste time. I’m thinking Facebook® might be that old.
Regardless, his message is timeless: every moment that we’re breathing here on Earth is precious. We may not always get a choice as to how we spend our time (Ted Kaczynski seems to be booked every day) but the true crime is to waste time. Oh, and blowing people up.
I wonder if that dog goes to the vet if he’s not peeling well?
I have been as guilty as anyone of wasting time. And one of the biggest wastes of time is to become consumed by negative thoughts and emotions. In reality, most of the time (most) the things that irritate me are small. How small? So small that if I pack up my emotions, and really assess as to why I’m mad, it just looks silly. When Hillary reflects on why she’s mad, well, she calls the Suicide Hotline and places an order.
But that reflection is crucial. It’s called self-control, and although it appears to be unfashionable in certain locations (Chicago, I’m looking at you) it is the only way to be successful. If I threw a temper tantrum when (spins wheel) I drop a sock on the floor, I think there’s a simple word for that in the English language: Leftist feminist the ATF unstable.
No, when I’m upset I stop. I take a deep breath. I ask myself, “Does it matter?” Most of the time, it doesn’t. At all. Very few of the things that have irritated me matter at all over any rational timeframe. The old two rules apply: 1. Don’t sweat the small stuff. 2. It’s all small stuff.
The second question is, can I control whatever the situation is or influence it? If the answer is no, then that’s like being mad that the Sun is coming up in the morning. Even if it’s my mistake, it’s sillier than being angry over the English coal minimum price subsidy in the 1800s or . . . anything that happened in 1619.
Why do they call childbirth delivery? It’s really takeout.
One concept I’ve come across recently is “amor fati,” which is Latin for “put armor on fat people”. Oh, wait, my translator was wrong. It really means, “love your fate.” I think I first heard a variation of this when I was a kid: “You get what you get, and you’ll like it, and grease up the fat people so we can put plate mail on them.”
The reality of amor fati is this, though: I am where I am, and I have a choice. I can get up every morning and be mad, or I can be happy where I am. Does that mean I’m content? No. Does that mean I’m not going to fight like hell? No. Does that mean I’m not going to try to change certain things with the fire of a thousand suns? No.
Sesame Street® is a rough place.
It does mean that if life sucks, I can still find meaning, still find purpose, and still try to create the change that I seek to create. It’s not complacency. Heck, Seneca himself was one of the richest dudes in all of Rome. That didn’t just happen. He didn’t just wake up one morning, and say, “Holy crap, I have an amazing amount of money. How did that happen?”
Seneca embraced what he had, and tried to better himself, and change himself. He did okay.
Our choices are our choices, but even more than that, we always have the choice how we feel, even Ted Kaczynski. We may have lost everything else, but we always retain that. We should not be overcome by fear or despair. To be clear – those are just about the most negative things we can let into our lives, unless you know one of the women on The View.
Is Justin worse than Whoopi? You be the judge.
The only proper way to deal with tough times is to face into them. Our obstacles make us stronger. Each obstacle we face with virtue and excellence improves us. Except for bullets. Those sound like they really suck.
Regardless of all of that, the first point is still the most important: our lives aren’t too short – our lives are exactly as long as they are. Deal with it. Love it. Use your time – every minute. Every second you waste? It’s wasting your life.
Now, go make something happen.
Even small things encourage you to do more.
Fed my sourdough culture (be nice. it’s the only culture I have), tested some older seeds for viability (the old 10 seeds on a damp towel, baggie trick) and started some cabbage seeds.
Tempus fugit
Tempus fugit, indeed. Changing the world, even a little bit, is all I shoot for each day.
Good article, John.
I think a nice pity party is called for when you really get clobbered (broken, shot, cut, disemboweled, etc) but it shouldn’t last more than a day or so. It’s like a grieving period. But then you need to get up, rub some dirt on the wound and get back in the game.
Like you said, wasting time is wasting life.
A friend said his coach said, win or lose, once midnight hits, the party or the pity is over. It’s a new day.
According to Norse mythology, the Norns have already decided your fate – the three sisters Urdr, Verdande and Skuld (“Past”, “Present” and “Future”) that that sit at the Tree Of Life and keep it watered. They visit the birth of all newborns, kind of like the Tooth Fairy, and give each child its fate in the form of a cord they have woven. Urdr creates the various threads of your cord (from your ancestors), Verdande determines and weaved in her choosen mixture of threads in your cord (good vs. evil, fortune vs. misfortune, etc) and Skuld cuts it to her specified length (to set your lifespan).
To love your fate, you gotta love all of it – your past, your present and your future. No more whining or fretting about the mistakes and misfortunes in your past, no more fear or worry about your inevitable decline and fall yet to come.
“Amor Fati” means “Love These Babes”.
https://cdn.britannica.com/17/166517-050-22A13293.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norns#/media/File:Faroe_stamp_431_The_Norns_and_the_Tree.jpg
I’ve read about that. Might explain the ruthless battles?
When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. And that one sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, and then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that’s what you’re going to get, Son, the strongest castle in all of England.
Since relocating to the deep southwest, I’ve learned that what doesn’t kill you by stinging you, baking you, pricking you, drilling you full of holes or lopping your head off makes you stronger. So after fire ants, coral snakes, thorns an inch long, killer hail, 108 in the shade and dodging cartel bullets, I’ve become, figuratively, the strongest castle in all of South Texas.
Embrace the suck? We don’t merely embrace the suck. We woo it, coddle it, send it flowers on el Día de los Muertos and whisper sweet nothings in it’s hoary elfin ears.
Stubborn is strong in this one, Yoda
🙂
BTW John did you see this:
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will convene the heads of top US financial regulators Friday morning for a previously unscheduled meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
The meeting will be closed to the public, the Treasury Department said in a statement. The Treasury didn’t say what time the meeting would begin, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether the council would issue a statement following the meeting.
The step comes as regulators continue efforts to instill calm in financial markets and among bank depositors following the recent failure of two mid-sized lenders in the US and the near-collapse of banking giant …
We might be near a Bank Holiday.
Got cash and a deep pantry?
I think the reverberation in the system will peak in about a year. I think they’ll lose control. During an election year. Danger.
Ha! I love every bit of that. We endure. And it makes us better.
Wherever you go, there you are.
The scene where Buckaroo meets Penny and says that line is electrifying, a true film classic that resonated very deeply with me when I first saw it and one that has haunted me ever since. Maybe because of my mom’s (fated?) suicide only a few years earlier???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g95ZXrh2oK4
It was fate that bumped her elbow and let Penny go on. You never know what’s coming next.
Exactly. And don’t sweat the small stuff.
Harvard Yankees made Teddy K. (honk!)
One day it will be required reading and the trains will be bullet.
Ned Kelly armor is a hobby of mine using old car parts but the legs are always the deal breaker.
Leading or following will come later right now I like obstacle and who could of thought that Not Sure average intelligence would one day be above average.
You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
Marcus Aurelius
Excellent, excellent.
https://youtu.be/6VTWnYOqICk
Yeah, saw that. There’s a future post lurking on that. Bad times.
I’ve never been a sucker for the self motivation speeches or advice, but these are some of my favorite posts of yours. Thanks for all you do from one John to another….as I read this for the second time on the john..
Thank you! We all need remoralization from time to time.
The practice of “Memento Mori” is pretty powerful. The gist is pretty much what Seneca said, that you have a limited time, be aware of it, and let it shape how you live (in a good way).
It should focus the mind – what would you do if this was your last week?
When as a child I laughed and wept,
Time crept.
When as a youth I waxed more bold,
Time strolled.
When I became a full grown man,
Time RAN.
When older still I daily grew,
Time FLEW.
Soon I shall find, in passing on,
Time gone.
O Christ! wilt Thou have saved me then?
Amen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time%27s_Paces
Does anyone else find that those adolescent years, mid-teens through early 20s, fill the memory bank the most? I recall little before those years. And my years from 25 til now are nought but a blur. What I retain, through. and what I cherish most of all, is the memory of those years from age 15 to 21. Before time RAN, and before time FLEW.
Oh, to be forever young.
Thank you – hadn’t seen that one.