"Life is short."

Seneca, in a beautifully worded passage, strongly disagrees:

It's not that we have too short a time to live, but that we squander a great deal of it. Life is long enough, and it's given in sufficient measure to do many great things if we spend it well. But when it's poured to no good end, we're finally driven to see that it has passed by before we even recognized it passing. And so it is- we don't receive a short life, we make it so.

 

This is how to be productive: 4 Secrets from the Stoics
Eric Barker
(From: Barking up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success is (Mostly) Wrong

Karl Pillemer of Cornell University interviewed 1,200 people age 70 to 100+ for his book, 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans, asking them:

"If you look back over the course of your life, what are the most important lessons you learned that you would like to share with younger people?"

What was the #1 answer?

"Life is short."

Seneca, in a beautifully worded passage, strongly disagrees:

It's not that we have too short a time to live, but that we squander a great deal of it. Life is long enough, and it's given in sufficient measure to do many great things if we spend it well. But when it's poured to no good end, we're finally driven to see that it has passed by before we even recognized it passing. And so it is- we don't receive a short life, we make it so.

No offense to Karl. He did a survey. So he didn't necessarily get the right answer, he go the most common answer.

I'm with Seneca. Life doesn't have to be short. We all have 24 hours in a day. Every single one of us.

You can use them to create something awesome, to visit that someone special who misses you desperately, to provide for your family, or to savor a great moment.

But don't waste your hours. Don't end up wondering, "What have I been doing with my time?"

Leave a trail of accomplishments or smiles behind you.

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