stoicism

Long and Short

Life is long and short. Minutes are measured in seconds, counted off by clocks and we being who we are must have that exactness that comes with the precise mechanizations of machines. And so we pare down the seconds to micro-seconds and beyond, always searching for certainty.

It is, afterall, about certainty.

We have to show that we have control, that we are in control. That we know. That we can. But although our ancestral fur has dropped off we are still apes afraid of our own shadows.

Life is long and short. we are even afraid of the time we have, filling it up with mundane tasks meant to give us meaning in a meaningless world; a world that we have created. We have no reason and so we create one, a reason to validate our existence.

Whatever that reason is does not (in the end matter): gods, money, children, family. It doesn’t matter if we have our heads buried in the minutia of infinity.

Useful

Be useful in the face of uselessness. Utilize any chance to make your world a better place, make your environment one worthy of living. Do not sit idly by, but work towards an ultimate goal, not just simple cash reward but success and happiness. Do what you must to make yourself what you believe you can be.

Be careful in the world. Be skeptical of those empty smiles and thieves and bandits of empathy. Call a spade a spade but don’t lose yourself in the cynical mistrust. Guard that which is most important: your integrity, your character, your trustworthiness. always know that to a salesman you are a dollar bill, to a friend you are one that is to be trusted, to a woman a partner, and to a man a home.

Above all be yourself and do not apologize for what you have honestly come by.

The Stoic

When everything else falls away look for where it is you are standing. There is always a somewhere and a something.

Can you move? Then do so. Is there a difference? Then make it. It is true: life is an empty glass; fill it or not.

Don’t listen to fools. Dismiss them even if the world bows before their tripe. Rise above and be alone if that is what it takes.

Looking for beauty is a search that has two parts. First there is fleeting beauty. Then there is the beauty of truth. The one a woman who grows old and the other a god that smiles.

An empty heart will sometimes stand still and wait. And sometimes it will search for search for something to love. It is not fickle; we are dismissive.

When you have nothing to say or to write about, listen. If what you hear is silence, enjoy it.

Choose Life Carefully

Choose your life carefully. It takes time. You will make mistakes and you will have regrets. You will laugh and you will cry. And sickness will come, and sometimes it will pass. These are all steps on a staircase. These are all moments which become memories.

There are always compromises that whittle away at the best of intentions.

They too will come and go. And what we are left with is the moment. And in that moment we will relive those memories and look for new memories to make. Do this consciously. Do not count your days or waste your time. Do not give your self up easily to ease and comfort.

Resist much. Obey little.

Do the best you can. Always look to learn. Be curious. Smile when you can. Know who to take seriously and what to dismiss. Do not sell yourself or the world short. Make instead of buy. Keep instead of sell. Experience instead of watch. Let the batteries run down.

“It is not as much what you are doing but how you are doing it.” (Epictetus)

And one day we will die. Mortality is the future for all. Do not forget this, but live in peace knowing this. Do not wish for fantasies. Do not believe otherwise. And one day, hopefully in the mountains, you can watch the sun set and the cold mountain air surround you.