In his work, On The Shortness of Life, the Greek stoic philosopher Seneca states “It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it….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.”
Prior to discovering Seneca, for years, my day consisted of going to bed at 2-3am, hitting the snooze button multiple times, frantically rushing to work, and then lethargically carrying myself through the day. This was my cycle each day. I embodied the Rat Race.
My day had no purpose. There was no direction. No motivation. No plan of action. No focus. Just rush, sit down, go, and do it all over again. My energy throughout the day was extremely low and sometimes almost non-existent because it all stemmed from poor time management.
When I was choosing to live my life under these types of stressors, I blamed everything and everyone around me. Somehow I was “forced” to live this way and that I had earned the right to stay up and watch Netflix, skip my workout, and recklessly spend my money. I had somehow earned this… I was simply justifying the inner demon, which was the inner voice of mediocrity, weakness, and lack of discipline.
Seneca’s work, On The Shortness of Life, served as a blaring alarm and no longer could I hit the snooze button. He gave me the stark reminder that there is not a lot of time in life and that it is my responsibility to use my time most effectively and creatively. No longer could I compromise with myself to feel so terrible in life simply because I couldn’t do minuscule tasks such as closing a laptop screen, saying “no” to fruitless ideas, and pressing an off button.
Time is a gift that should not be squandered on aimless and pointless activities. The quality of our lives is a direct reflection of how we spend our time and ultimately, how we spend our energy each day.
Photo Credit: Medium.com. 2017.
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