Who Are You Becoming?
“What kind of man do you want to become?”
This is no small question. And one worth taking time to reflect and ponder on.
But I was being faced with the question, and unsure how to answer it fully in the moment.
So often we crash and stumble through life, effectively blowing stop signs on our journey to a destination we have long ago forgotten. In this day and age, it’s encouraged to celebrate the “journey more than the destination.” But who are you, and what are you becoming? While I was in college we had an unexpected location for class one day: the graveyard.
As we walked among the dead, the words of Marcus Aurelius rang in our ears: “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”
We gathered around the founders of our institution, and solemnly stood silent as our profession challenged us to visit once a year the land of the dead as an exercise — especially while we were young.
The phrase of the day: Momento Mori. “Graveyards are filled with indispensable men,” said Charles De Gaulle. Life is fleeting. Therefore, make it count. What we do on this earth matters, so go all in. The @dailystoic has written an incredible piece on this idea of remembering and reflection death and reminding us:
“Meditating on your mortality is only depressing if you miss the point. It is in fact a tool to create priority and meaning. It’s a tool that generations have used to create real perspective and urgency. To treat our time as a gift and not waste it on the trivial and vain.”
So what kind of person do you want to be? If we died suddenly today, how would those who you most care about remember you?
For me, I want to be a man of character and integrity — and known for that by the people I care about the most. Driven by my purpose, and known by my care. But time is fleeting.
Talk matters little and it’s time to act.
So join me and remember death.
Memento Mori.