I heard an anecdote about someone’s experience while in college. One of their classmates, who is into Buddhism, went into class wearing monk robes. It definitely stood out because in their country, Buddhism isn’t commonly practiced. They pondered about the purpose of wearing the robes in a place where it is not the norm. What do they want to accomplish by standing out?
Epictetus, in his letter On the Philosopher’s Mean, writes about this exact thing.
Friends are the spice of life. They are our rampart in times of distress, the confidante to our innermost thoughts, and reinforces us in times of weakness. Of all the people we know throughout life, there are only a few that fits the bill. An even rarer find are your true friends; those that do not leave you even when things get really tough.
What makes someone a friend? How do they stand out from the rest of our acquaintances? Seneca, in his letter On True and False Friendship said that the crucial element is trust.
It has been said that life is short. As we only have limited time on this earth, we should experience as many things as possible. No one knows when their last day will be. Maybe today, perhaps tomorrow, or many years into the future. So we try to live in the fast track, determined to experience life through the windows of a speeding train. Having enough is something we don’t consider.
We love to dine at an eat-all-you-can buffet. Ordering a dessert sampler instead of individual pieces. Traveling with a jam-packed itinerary. These are the things we do in order to take that “shortcut” of experiences. Instead of having to experience them one at a time, we now have the option of trying everything at once.
James climbed up the ladder until he reached the top of the bunker. He just called in a missile strike to his location in order to destroy this virus laboratory. He knew it would be the end. After saying goodbye to his loved ones, he looked at the vast and beautiful ocean for one last time, and accepted his final fate.
After hearing the news of his death, his colleagues gave him a final toast with these words:
As I add another digit to my life’s marker this month, sometimes I can’t help but look back and check to see if I have really grown worthy of my age. I found that through several trials and heartaches these past year, what helped me the most are the things I learned exploring and reading about personal philosophy.
These are some concepts that I find worthy of sharing to everyone. As they only touch the general idea behind each concept, I will leave it to the reader to decide whether they are ideas worth looking deeper into.