As you approach the end of this mission, take out some time to reflect on how your worldview is changing with the acceptance of death. Have your priorities changed? Are you finding it easier to see the value of different choices, like scrolling social media vs spending time with family?

Memento Mori (Latin for “Remember you must die”) was a Kosmik Key for Marcus Aurelius, and while it might appear grim, the idea is not about obsessing over death, rather an obsession with life inspired by embracing our mortality. How about making Memento Mori one of your Keys as well?

Like any strong idea, Memento Mori can be a double-edged sword. It can make you or break you, and the choice is yours. The goal is to live every day as if it were your last, but if it restricts you from enjoying the small joys of life then something is wrong. When used well, Memento Mori can help you rise above procrastination and stop caring about others’ opinions with ease.

Often, people fall for traps of multi-tasking and sacrificing things because time feels too little for their “big goals.” But is this also not a form of procrastination? Procrastination buds on the idea of the abundance of time. When you postpone important things like visiting your child’s school play or expressing gratitude to your loved ones, it is often based on the assumption that you can do it in the future. To avoid this trap, let us visit Seneca’s observation in his essay On the Shortness of Life:

Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow, and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune's control and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.

Most of our mistakes happen when we live in auto-mode, doing things as everyone else does, without slowing down to think. The risk here is that if there are potholes on the way, you will face them just like the ones you are following. As Seneca’s words make sense even centuries later, does it not prove that most of us have followed the generations before us blindly, never slowing down to see the potholes, prioritizing the wrong things all over again, and only regretting them after having suffered.

It is human to make mistakes. There is no point in regretting but make sure that you reflect on them to learn and get better. You can use your daily journaling as a great opportunity for this, just like Emperor Marcus Aurelius did. We cannot tell what is best for you, but only show you the way to self-discovery. The journey is yours to be made.

N.B.: Go slow with the idea of Memento Mori and avoid taking it to the extreme. Do not put a tall order of cutting your TV time or small talks with friends to absolutely zero. All these experiences make you human but become aware of the ways you kill time and reduce this wastage. With time, you will find the right balance.

Shine on! 😊