On the Shortness of Life

(Source: https://books.google.ca/books/about/On_the_Shortness_of_Life.html?id=nJg_AwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&gboemv=1&ovdme=1&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false )

I recently finished the short book befittingly titled On the Shortness of Life by Lucius Seneca. Although I had heard some of Seneca's quotes beforehand, it was my first time reading any of his works. Given that we now live in the year 2024, there wasn't a whole lot written that hasn't already been said before; the fragility of life is a topic that has been discussed since the dawn of time. But it was interesting to hear one of the earliest philosopher's perspective on the matter...

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"It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested."

The beginning of the book immediately greets us with its message, which is the concept of time and how we spend our lives wasting it. Or, more specifically, how our precious time is thwarted and taken by others, and by ridiculous notions and ideas that are planted in our heads. Seneca reminds us that time has been given to us sufficiently, so long as we spend that time living a meaningful life.

"Consider how much of your time was taken up with a moneylender, how much with a mistress, how much with a client, how much in wrangling with your wife, how much in rushing about the city on social duties. Add the diseases which we have caused by our own acts, add, too, the time that has lain idle and unused; you will see that you have fewer years to your credit than you count."

This ☝️ quote hit me hard because my father recently said the same thing to me: that he's nearly 60 and just wants to start "living for himself" now. All the while failing to realize that his entire life has been devoted to others and he has nothing to show for it. Failing to recognize the blessings that surrounded him. My dad has dedicated 35 years of his life to a job that he despises. He had a failed marriage with my mother decades ago and has not been with anyone else since. His children resent him for being insensitive and emotionally absent, and now he will spend his twilight years chasing after whatever other meaningless things he can think of.

(Images created using an AI art generator on Night Cafe)

"Consider ... when your mind was ever unperturbed, what work you have achieved in so long a life, how many have robbed you of life when you were not aware of what you were losing, how much was taken up in useless sorrow, in foolish joy, in greedy desire, in the allurements of society, how little of yourself was left to you; you will perceive that you are dying before your season! What, then, is the reason of this?"

This is another quote that spoke to me. Life is full of so many distractions that desperately want to take us away from the people and things that truly matter. It is not only unfulfilling careers -- it is the petty internet arguments, the same tired fight that you've had with your wife and kids for the umpteenth time, the silly ideas that you won't be happy until you are rich, or famous, or living on a tropical island. Too many people do not even live in the present to begin with! People choose to waste their lives in the past and the future as opposed to what's right in front of them.

"And yet (the past) is the part of our time that is sacred and set apart, put beyond the reach of all human mishaps, and removed from the dominion of Fortune, the part which is disquieted by no want, by no fear, by no attacks of disease; this can neither be troubled nor be snatched away—it is an everlasting and unanxious possession."

Similar to how too many refuse to live in the present, there are many who look back upon the past with regret as opposed to satisfaction. Here, Seneca offers us an interesting perspective: the past has already been determined, and with that certainty comes a sense of relief. It is the one period of time that is not hindered by fear or uncertainty. The past is a treasure that we reward ourselves with when we have no reason to be ashamed or depressed by it. Therefore, it is more important than ever that we treat each day for the gift that it is.

"Therefore, and not merely short, must the life of those be who work hard to gain what they must work harder to keep. By great toil they attain what they wish, and with anxiety hold what they have attained; meanwhile they take no account of time that will never more return. New distractions take the place of the old, hope leads to new hope, ambition to new ambition. They do not seek an end of their wretchedness, but change the cause."

Seneca's teachings return back to the main focus of the book, which is to make our time meaningful and useful, and to avoid distractions at all costs. But to especially avoid destructive ideas and thoughts, for these things can distract us for a lifetime if we allow them to. Here, in western society especially, the world is rife with harmful distractions: social media, traffic, corporate careers, greed, excessive leisure, sexual mischief, gaming, politics, criminal activities... It has even reached a point where society condemns having children!

Yet, this is the only life that I have deemed worth living: one with children! Having a family -- raising well-adjusted children who shall someday contribute to society -- has been the purpose of life, and my legacy.

So I have learned a very simple way to distinguish between right and wrong. Anything, or anyone, that tries to distract me from the importance of my family is the devil in disguise. I avoid these detriments at all costs.