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December    15th

A   SIMPLE  WAY TO  MEASURE OUR DAYS

“This   is  the mark    of  perfection  of  character—to    spend   each    day as  if  it  were    your    last,   without

frenzy, laziness,   or  any pretending.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS,   MEDITATIONS,    7.69

he Stoics didn’t think that anyone could be perfect. The idea of becoming a sage—the highest
aspiration of a philosopher—wasn’t realistic. This was just their Platonic ideal.
Still, they started every day hoping to get a little closer to that mark. There was much to gain in the
trying. Can you actually live today like it is your last day? Is it even possible to embody completeness or
perfection in our ethos (character), effortlessly doing the right thing for a full twenty-four hours? Is it
possible for more than a minute?
Maybe not. But if trying was enough for the Stoics, it should be enough for us too.