116 - A Good Tale

<p>“As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.”</p><p>― Seneca</p><p>We live in a time where the average lifespan is almost double what it was 200 years ago.<br />Advances in medicine, sanitation, and agriculture have made it possible for more people to live longer.<br />And in many other ways, the physical and external parts of life are better. Life is certainly much easier than it was 200 years ago.<br />But as we work on increasing our lifespans, are we working on increasing the quality of our lives? Are we living a good life?<br />Because what’s the point of living longer, just to live longer?<br />If you live to 100 and you’re unhappy and miserable and treat people poorly, what’s the point?<br />As a good Stoic, you should always keep in mind “Memento Mori”, that you could leave life at any moment, so you shouldn’t expect to live to an old age.<br />It may happen, it may not. It’s something, that for the most part is out of our control, so you should do your best to live a life that, were you to die tomorrow, you’d be proud of.<br />As Marcus Aurelius said, “Waste no more time arguing about what a good person should be. Be one.”<br />What are you doing to write your story? What steps are you taking to create a life that is worth living? What are you doing to step out of the grind of work, Netflix, sleep, repeat?<br />Don’t wait until tomorrow to work on becoming a better person.<br />Don’t wait until later to be kind and helpful to others.<br />Don’t wait until next year to start working on the dreams that you have.<br />Since you don’t know how long you will live, put more effort into living better than living longer.</p><div>---<br>Hello friends! Thanks for listening. <br>Want to take these principles to the next level?<a href="https://stoic.coffee/join"> Join the Stoic Coffee House Community</a>!&nbsp; <br><br>Stop by the website at <a href="http://www.stoic.coffee/">stoic.coffee</a> where you can sign up for our newsletter, and buy some great looking shirts and hoodies at the <a href="https://stoic.coffee/">Stoic Coffee Shop</a>. <br><br>Like the theme song? You can find it <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ericklind/journey-by-moonlight">here from my alter ego</a>. :)<br><br></div><div>Find me on <a href="https://instagram.co/stoic.coffee">instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/stoiccoffee">twitter</a>, or <a href="https://threads.net/stoic.coffee">threads</a><br><br></div><div>Lastly if you know of someone that would benefit from or appreciate this podcast, please share it. Word of mouth is the best way to help this podcast grow. <br><strong>Thanks again for listening.</strong></div><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>