#028 | Memento Mori

Heads up: This week’s newsletter might be a heavy one for most people to read. It’s about the ancient practice of reflection on mortality and the inevitability of death.

Hey friends,

Early last year, I came across the Memento Mori calendar, which displays your life in weeks.

I loved it. I love the whole idea of it. I started showing my friends and colleagues….

Most found the calendar to be depressing and sad and I kept hearing comments along the lines of:

The “funny” thing was the thought of sadness and depression never occurred to me. I thought the calendar was a good idea because it visualise time. That’s why I started showing the calendar around like it was the best thing ever!

But the contrary of opinions really got me thinking deeper of why I thought the calendar was such a good idea.

Turns out it wasn’t the calendar that got me…

It was the concept of Memento Mori.

What I like about Memento Mori is that it teaches you to value time… by reflecting on the fact that death is inevitable.

Think about it for a moment…

You will die one day. And there’s nothing you can do to stop that.

Your death is inevitable.

I think that the reason why most people find the calendar to be depressing is because it visualises the end point of life; the inevitability of death.

But guess what…

Death is closer to you than you might think…

Past days / months / years are now in the hands of death. You can’t get those back.

And you aren’t guarantee future time because you never know what would happen.

And so the only thing you have is TODAY.

So value your TIME.

Go do what you desire NOW.

Don’t wait around for the right moment because it might be too late.

You can’t prolong your life but you can for sure make sure you live a good life!

🔥 Actionable Knowledge

Treat each day as if it’s your last day on earth. Go do that thing that you have been putting off for weeks and months now. Go speak to that random girl in the park that you find cute. Go fix old relationships and learn to forgive. Don’t wait any longer for then it might be too late.

At the end of each day, at night, when the lights are off, think to yourself that you have make good use of today. You have lived. You can rest now. Today is my last day on earth.

When you wake up tomorrow morning, you will feel grateful because you just got an extra day on earth.

Below is my Memento Mori calendar. And yes, I assume I live till 100 years old.

I would love to hear from you! Share your thoughts by replying to this email 😊

Thanks for reading everyone. Have a good week ahead! 🎮

All the best,

Ryan O

Current Stats: 12.2% action rate <— Read 41 books | Taken actions on at least 5 books

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