Memento Mori ... remember that you will die

"You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think. ”

So admonished Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman Stoic, in his book wrote Meditations. If there was ever an injunction calculated to focus our mind on the present moment, the NOW in which we have space to move and act, our impending demise would certainly seem to do the trick!

You see, the purpose to the Stoic mind of Memento Mori is to remind us to live our lives to the fullest, right now in this present moment. It has nothing to do with fear (of death), regrets (for past failure or unmet future promise), or loss (Stoics are taught to give away what they fear losing, that they may free themselves from emotional bondage).

No, Memento Mori is an explicit invitation to live this day as the best one we have ever experienced: The present moment is, after all, the only one that we are guaranteed to have choice to act on our desires:-)

An interesting sidenote implicit in the Stoic way of contemplating life and death, is the release of all burdens that we do not control right now, and a focus on actions that we can do, right now, that improve our lives and reflect our highest, best selves.

Procrastination is literally deadly to our dreams, because they will die if there is no tomorrow to pursue them in.

Regrets likewise waste our precious time by causing us to carry burdens and focus attention on that which is forever beyond our power to change.

Fears of an onrushing future that may, or may not, ever get here is equally corrosive in that we pour acid on the present moment and deface the happiness we could be enjoying, right now.

Fear, regret, and procrastination are all choices that we make that create a life, right now, less joyous and full than it could be.

Happiness is also a choice under our control...

To be Stoic is to care not a whit about things beyond our control, and to care very deeply about the life and joy we have right now, in the present moment. Stoicism is about using the present moment as a foundation to create an amazing future without expectation of that future being any better or worse than the present moment.

Change happens. Death happens to the best of us. But each of us have a power of choice to be happy now, in this present moment in which we control what we focus on.

And as each moment rolls forward into the next, making an unbroken string of experience we call "a Lifetime," to us Memento Mori will indeed come to mean "I choose happiness now!"

I wrote a post on the Three Pillars https://steemit.com/blog/@presentminded/the-three-pillars-of-being-present-minded, where I describe how this model I created helps in the pursuit of living in the present moment. It also very closely aligns with the Stoic way. I invite you to read it, as it has some practical suggestions on how to live a Stoic lifestyle.

1st Pillar If we cannot control something let it go. Focus our time and energy ONLY on those things we have direct control of.
2nd Pillar Happiness is RIGHT NOW, not in some distant future or primordial past. It's your choice to accept it.
3rd Pillar We create our lives by what we choose to focus our thoughts on, so focus wisely on thoughts that invite more of what you want into your life.

Many of the concepts I present in my writings are directly tied to Stoic thought, as well as Buddhist philosophy, the modern mindfulness movement, and the Tao. I have found that by embracing truth where ever it is found, I shed my burdens and free my spirit much quicker.

As always images are from Google and should have links/credits imbedded in the image. If you like my work, please upvote, resteem, and leave comments...especially leave comments! I would love to continue our conversation:-)