What Do We Have To Show For Today?
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I was shocked to hear about the loss of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash and that his daughter, Gianna, was among the casualties. His death shocked me because we’re around the same age: he’s a year older than me. Like me, he has young kids. I was particularly saddened that he left behind a newborn. While I knew that he was a tremendous player, he reinvented himself as an investor, then in multimedia. In fact, his animated short, “Dear Basketball (Amazon affiliate link),” earned him an Oscar (Academy Award). For being 41, what a legacy that he left behind!
For some, it takes something like the loss of Kobe Bryant or of someone close to remind them how brief life can be. As a student of Stoicism, this is something that I think about regularly. Just the other day, I found a passage of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (Amazon affiliate link) in Book 4:17,
“Live not as though there were a thousand years ahead of you. Fate is at your elbow; make yourself good, while life and power are still yours.“
I think about how Marcus Aurelius reminds us that we don’t have as much as we think we do. Since nobody knows how much time that they have, he encourages us to do the most with our lives, while we are still able. This knowledge of our impending end should motivate us to have something to show for our time.
While it doesn’t refer to death, I think of one of my favorite songs: Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” (Amazon affiliate link)
“You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime.“
In my most challenging moments, this song has been my mantra. It’s not that I didn’t want to feel fear. From what I have read, it’s not that high achievers are fearless, but they are able to consistently transcend fear. If I need to achieve something and I feel fear creeping in and I sense some hesitation, I draw on this song almost like a prayer. It never fails to help me.
No matter what your belief system-whether Stoic philosophy, a traditional belief system or a custom belief system, I would encourage you to each night review your day. Let me leave you with some questions to do your own Meditations.
If you have set goals, did you accomplish them? If you didn’t, why not?
Is/are there opportunity(ies) to improve on something?
If there was something that you couldn’t realistically do today, then did you set some sort of reminder for yourself.
Was there something that you should have done, but didn’t (omission)?
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