Seneca Occupation and rare experiences of life.
Oldest problem of philosophy - Seneca occupation
Until recently I thought the problems of modern man were very recent, due to the development of urban culture. It seems majority of the people in the city are stuck in some job doing things and getting busy by themselves without actually living a life of their own. But apparently this is not a very modern problem than industrial revolution created. Rather industrial revolution and development have created more opportunities for more men to live a virtuous life. In the case of Seneca, the wealthy stoic adviser to the roman Emperor 2000 years ago, he himself have tried to address the problem of human occupation. This article is exploring his approaches to it.
Life as a bank account
Imagine time you can live as a bank account. You make a withdrawal every day and you cannot return it. Bank account slowly gets depleted over time. Think about life as a depreciating asset than something you build and crash at the end to become zero suddenly. Then more important question to ask is what would you spend your withdrawal on today? Would you tire yourself acquiring more wealth and status, which you cannot keep for yourself without exerting day after day? Would you spend your hours on TV looking at information you did not want to receive in the first place, but given to you on accordance to someone else agenda? Would you read a book you do not want to read, or be somewhere you do not want to be? Would you spend time with some people who you do not appreciate but just carry on as circumstances necessitate this?
Answers to these problems is YOU WOULD NOT! If you do understand the true currency of life is the time you live on earth, and the true wealth you gain is experience and knowledge exploring yourself and others, you would spend your time on creating more opportunities to these rare moments. I can give you a list of rare moments of human life. It seems not only in this modern society, but they were also rare in the era of Roman Emperor 2000 years ago.
Priceless rare experience you can get in life.
A man seated on a chair thinking about nothing is a rare wealth.
A person who spends five minutes without wanting anything in life is a rare sight.
Someone walking down a busy road observing the nature is a rare phenomenon.
A young person going to bed and waiting in silence for the sleep to come is a rare situation.
A man who stays in silence and responding calmly when someone blames is rare
A man doing some favor to someone else without anything in return is rare.
Being content with what you have now is a rare life experience.
A living man, not being afraid of death is fulfilling.
Not wanting to be anywhere else but here, now is a rare life experience.
Watching a bird chirping in the garden and hopping away looking for worms is a rare sight for an adult.
As you can see, these priceless experiences in life don't cost anything, as all the ingredients necessary are given to us by default. The key factors missing are understanding. Our tendency to learn what we should value, from our ancestors, not from within ourselves. It rarely has anything to do with our jobs, or occupation. But if they seem hindrances, and spill over to your life spoiling your ordinary experience, perhaps it is time to act upon Seneca wisdom, which is applicable to even today.
If you remember that your time is limited, ordinary moments become more valuable. -Senecca
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