T

April   14th

BECOMING    AN  EXPERT  IN  WHAT    MATTERS

“Believe    me, it’s    better  to  produce the balance-sheet   of  your    own life    than    that    of  the grain

market.”

—SENECA,    ON  THE BREVITY OF  LIFE,   18.3b

he things that some people manage to be experts in: fantasy sports, celebrity trivia, derivatives and
commodities markets, thirteenth-century hygiene habits of the clergy.
We can get very good at what we’re paid to do, or adept at a hobby we wish we could be paid to do.
Yet our own lives, habits, and tendencies might be a mystery to us.
Seneca was writing this important reminder to his father-in-law, who, as it happened, was for a time
in charge of Rome’s granary. But then his position was revoked for political purposes. Who really cares,
Seneca was saying, now you can focus that energy on your inner life.
At the end of your time on this planet, what expertise is going to be more valuable—your
understanding of matters of living and dying, or your knowledge of the ’87 Bears? Which will help your
children more—your insight into happiness and meaning, or that you followed breaking political news
every day for thirty years?