Posted By Leigh McClurg | 1 comment

I forget that I’m mortal. Ah, that macabre topic, Mortality. Oh how we like to ignore it. Posts like this usually stop being read around this point. We were all happily wrapped in our cocoon of distraction on the internet and in general and I had to remind us of the inevitable, that hourglass over our shoulders that never stops trickling sand.

I like to read about Entrepreneurs and those that are driven by a singular passion. They all share one important way of thinking in common, they are all acutely aware of their own mortality. But they don’t view it as a negative, they channel that knowledge into fueling their passion to live well and follow their dreams.

Procrastination and laziness are symptoms of forgetting we are mortal. Sometimes I waste a day doing nothing. The weather is bad and my energy is low and I’ve lost focus, like today actually. I spend time locked in a mental ouroboros of questions like: “what does it mean”, “where am I going”… the usual ones we all ask ourselves at some point. Sunrise comes and sunset goes and the day is gone. At the end of each day, before I sleep, I try to take stock of how I’ve grown. Even if that growth is mental alone or purely physical then I will sleep well.

But just wasting time to pass the day will ultimately bother me. I do it, I’m human, I need to decompress sometime. I also see the benefit of taking some time for personal reflection. But it’s important to not let oneself get into a habit of it.

I read once that feeling a nagging sense of dissatisfaction is a good thing, it’s what drives change in our lives. If we were satisfied and comfortable, why would we ever change or grow?

So I embrace that feeling of dissatisfaction. I am mortal. The knowledge of it pushes me out of bed earlier in the morning to experience more of the day. When I sit idle watching fiction on TV that teaches me very little I feel a visceral unease to move. I know you feel it also. Don’t ignore it, or distract yourself from it, embrace it fully. Never let it leave your consciousness. Give your time value, value it more than money.

Sometimes we all forget about our mortality, but when you remember, use that realization as the fuel that drives you tomorrow or the next day.

We’re all going to die some day, sure, but before that happens we get to live. How awesome is that! How do you want to live?

Right now I’m going to close the lid on my laptop and go for a run, feel my heart beating hard in my chest, live.

Related posts: