“Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day. The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.”

Seneca, Moral Letters.

It may seem a rather pessimistic, sinister or downbeat perspective to hold, but it is true: we don’t know when our lives will end. It’s only natural to want to stay alive as long as possible and so to spend time thinking about what needs to be done in order to achieve that, but in so doing we run the risk of believing that our future is certain. As a result, we can find ourselves delaying or putting on hold the small things that we take for granted every day.

Why wait? Put your affairs in order. Attend to what is important. The catharsis you experience by letting out pent-up emotions over things you have worried about but denied is oddly calming. Then repeat the process again tomorrow (if it comes…sorry! Too negative again!).

And be grateful for having another chance to do it.

Photo by Stijn Swinner on Unsplash.