Hey Friend!
I got terribly sick last week.
Even as I’m writing this now, I’m trying to fully revive.
But this illness was unlike any I’ve had before…
Sure, I had the basic symptoms. I’m talking: Headache. Fever. Chills.
I couldn’t exercise, write or eat - 3 of my favorite things!
Tragic.
I kept telling myself, “I would do anything to not be sick”
And I meant it.
But there wasn’t much I could do about it, except wait.
Anyway… on Sunday morning I woke up feeling much better.
It felt amazing to be back to normal.
To be able to do the little things like:
Walk outside.
Write with a clear head.
And to be around my family.
I felt like myself again, but something was different…
My basic day-to-day seemed much more exciting than before I was sick.
Such simple things became so valuable after a few days of not being able to do them.
When everything is taken away from us, we realize what we care for the most.
But honestly, it’s hard to pin them down when we’re so busy in our daily lives.
We all have so much to do every day. Personal goals we want to achieve, tasks that we have committed ourselves to, and the daily grind of work. That’s enough to fill up 5 lifetimes!
So, how do we keep the parts of our lives that are truly important to us, on the forefront of our minds?
Here’s my plan.
Remind yourself of sickness & death - daily.
The Roman emperors used to have someone follow them around all day and remind them of “Memento Mori.” This is a Latin phrase that means, “Remember you must die.”
This may be an odd way of going about your life. But no one can fully avoid sickness & everyone will die one day.
It’s inevitable.
So, throughout your day think to yourself:
“I could die tomorrow and all of this would be gone.”
or…
“I could get sick tomorrow and miss all of this.”
It will help you realize what you have and how often you take it for granted.
Sure, this is somewhat cliche, but would you rather get to the end of your life and regret the way you spent your time?
I urge you to think about this before it’s too late.
One day you won’t have those opportunities anymore.
Appreciate them while you can.
✍️ Quote of the Week
“A healthy man wants a thousand things, a sick man only wants one.” - Confucius
(Not going to lie, this is one of my favorite quotes. It puts such an emphasis on daily health!)
Thanks for reading
Have a wonderful weekend,
-Rocky “Memento Mori” Ferony