The Daily Stoic - Do It Even Harder | What Is Memento Mori (Explained In 5 Minutes)

Episode Date: August 30, 2022

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Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic Podcast early and add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we read a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you in your everyday life. On Tuesdays, we take a closer look at these stoic ideas, how we can apply them in our actual lives. Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy. Hi, I'm David Brown, the host of Wunderree's podcast business wars. And in our new season, Walmart must fight off target, the new discounter that's both savvy and fashion forward.

Listen to business wars on Amazon music or wherever you get your podcasts. Do it even harder. They told Socrates to stop to stop asking questions to stop corrupting the youth with all his crazy ideas. They told Cato to stop asking questions to stop corrupting the youth with all his crazy ideas. They told Cato to stop too, to stop getting in the way, stop rooting out corruption, filibustering, protecting Rome's old ways.

They did more than just tell these men to stop. They criticized them, they jeered them, they offered bribes and temptations. When none of that work, they threatened to kill them. And do you know how Socrates and Kato responded to borrow a line from the great Michael Scott, they started doing it even harder. A stoic is not deterred by difficulty or threats. A stoic doesn't go along to get along. They don't mind standing alone.

They don't mind being the thorn on the side, provided that it's a thorn on the side of corrupt interests or the powers that be. That was the ethos of the so-called stoic opposition. They were willing to throw themselves into the spokes to fight, to resist, insist on what was right, even though they were outnumbered, even though they were relatively powerless. So it must go for us. What is right is right. We will not be deterred or intimidated.

We will not be bought off. We will resist until the end. It's a great quote from Richard Feynman, like if you can't explain it to a five-year-old, or a first grader, you don't actually understand it. I think if you can't be brief with it, if you can't get to the point, if you can't explain a complicated topic quickly, you probably don't understand it.

That's why I love about the jokes. I love how brief and tight marks really as his meditations are. That's why I try to keep my books short. That's why these podcast episodes aren't super long. Well, in today's episode, we're going to talk about Momentumori, which you've heard. It's a pretty tight expression. I will say Momentumori, remember you will heard. It's a pretty tight expression, I will say, Momentumori, remember you will die. I want to go into this concept.

Arguably, one of the most complicated and incomprehensible topics in the world, right? What happens when we die? Why do we die? What does it mean to be human, a fragile human being whose life can be taken from them in any moment, how can we talk about that in his brief window as possible? And in today's episode, we're going to do that.

We're going to talk to them a men to a mori, five minutes, right? And I'm not rushing. I don't want you to think that I'm rushing through this because the stokes would say, why are you rushing, right? Don't rush towards death, soak in every moment, but also you can't afford to waste time, you can't afford frivolous, extraneous, needlessly verbose, complicated, stupid, annoying, not just blow-viating explanation. So I'll get right to this episode and we're going to talk about memento more in just five minutes and go really tight, helpful summary of one of

the most life-changing topics and concepts and philosophy in stoicism that I have yet to come across. Again, in the ancient world, life was very fragile. And yet, even then, they had to remind themselves that they could go at any moment. And I think death, as we have become successful as a society, as we become more and more insulated from tragedy,

has receded from the forefront of our consciousness. Shakespeare famously said that every third thought after he retired would be of his grave. I don't know if it has to be that often, but at least once a day, just take a minute to think, I don't know how much time I have left. As Seneca says, we go through life, afraid of some things as if we're mortal,

but then we treat time as if we are immortal, as we have an unlimited amount of it and we don't. The tragedy is by the time we realize we've been taking time for granted. It's too late. One of the most life-changing exercises as far as momentum or ego is for me, came from Santa Cusenica. Santa Cus says, don't see death as something in the future that you're moving towards. So see it as something that's happening right now. It says you're dying every minute. You are dying every day. This is the time that passes belongs to death. So I don't think about the fact that I'm 34

and that means per actuary tables, I've got 45 years left. I think instead that I've died 34 years. I've died however many minutes I've spent talking to you. So why am I doing it? Because this is important to me. If it wasn't important to me, I shouldn't do it, right? Since I am doing it, I should do it as if it matters.

I should give it my best. Momento Mori to me puts everything in perspective. As Mark's really says, it shows you what's essential and what's inocentually. This is great test Marks says, ask yourself, am I afraid of death because I won't be able to do blank anymore? And I think about that, the things that we spend so much time doing, then we wonder where does our time go? Right? We spent it on frivolous, stupid things. So, for the Stokes, Memento Mori was this humbling bit of perspective. It put everything in sharp focus. And I think even one of the most haunting exercises

in stoicism about mental worry, it doesn't just apply to you, but also the people you love. Marcus Realizes as you tuck your child into bed at night, save yourself, they may not make it to the morning. Is that supposed to be detaching you from not feeling what you feel towards them? It's the opposite.

It's telling you don't rush through this because what you're rushing towards is death. Slow down, be present, cherish the person while you have them. It's not that life is short, as Seneca says, is that we waste a lot of it. The practice of momentum or the meditation on death, The practice of momentum worry, the meditation on death, is one of the most powerful and eye-opening things that there is.

You built this momentum worry calendar for Diosdok to illustrate that executive in your life. In the best case scenario, it's 4,000 weeks. Are you going to let those weeks slip by or are you going to seize them? The act of unrolling this calendar, putting it on your wall, and every single week that bubble is filled in,

that black mark is marking it off forever. Have something to show, not just for your years, but for every single thought that you've filled in, that you really lived that week. You made something of it. You can check it out at dailystoke.com slash Pam and Calder. This is the most powerful part of Memento Moring. Senika says that the person who has gone to bed doing everything that they could have done that day. When you awake in the morning, if you are so lucky, it's a bonus.

You're happy in the morning because you've been given an extra try. You're playing with house money. And so if I can leave you this, with this idea of momentum, worry, I think it'll make you better. And that's why I carry this reminder with me. It's powerful.

Use it wisely. This is the daily stoic coin. I'm as proud of making this as I am of any of my books, tens of thousands of people all over the world have them. I see them, they bring it out of their pocket, they say, look at this every single day, it's changed my life. I hope it'll do the same for you. You can check it out at store. the Daily Stoic early and add free on Amazon music. Download the Amazon music app today, or you can listen early and add free on Amazon music, download the Amazon music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts.

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