What Is Memento Mori? (Explained In 5 Minutes)

when you awake in the morning if you are so lucky it's a bonus you're happy in the morning because you've been given an extra try you're playing with house money the greatest honor that a Roman could receive was a Triumph through Rome you would March Victorious coming home from the battlefield you'd be led on a chariot but yet they also had a servant followed close behind who whispered in your ear momento Mory meaning you are moral they wanted someone at their greatest moment of Triumph they wanted them to be reminded that they were still a

human that life was short I actually carry this coin in my pocket it says momento Mori and on the back it has a quote from Marcus Reis that you could leave life right now he says let that determine what you do and say and think in today's video I wanted to talk about the concept of momento Mori in as short a time as possible to give you what I think is one of the most life-changing exercises in all of stoic philosophy again in the ancient world life was very fragile and yet even then they had

to remind themselves that uh they could go at any moment and I think death as we have become successful as a society as we become more and more insulated from tragedy has receded from the Forefront of our Consciousness Shakespeare famously said that every third thought after he retired would be of his grave I don't know if it has to be that often but at least once a day just take a minute to think I don't know how much time I have left as senica says we go through life afraid of some things as if we're

mortal but then we treat time as if we are Immortal as if we have an unlimited amount of it and we don't the tragedy is by the time we realize we've been taking time for granted it's too late one of the most life-changing exercises as far as momento Mory goes for me came from senica senica says don't see death as something in the future that you're moving towards said see it as something that's happening right now he says you're dying every minute you are dying every day is the time that passes belongs to death so

I don't think about the fact that I'm 34 and that means per actuary tables I've got 45 years left I think instead that I've died 34 years I've died however many minutes I've spent talking to you so why am I doing it because this is important to me if it wasn't important to me I shouldn't do it right since I am doing it I should do it as if it matters I should give it my [Music] best momento Mory to me puts everything in perspective as Marcus really says it shows you what's essential and what's

inessential he this great test Marcus says ask yourself am I afraid of death because I won't be able to do blank anymore and I think about that the things that we spend so much time doing then we wonder where does our time go right we spent it on frivolous stupid things so for the stoics momento Mory was this humbling bit of perspective it put everything in sharp focus and I think even one of the most haunting exercises and stoicism about momento Mori it doesn't just apply to you but also the people you love Marcus really

says as you tuck your child into bed at night say to yourself they may not make it to the morning is that supposed to be detaching you from not feeling what you feel towards them it's the opposite it's telling you don't rush through this because what you're rushing towards is death slow down be present cherish the person while you have them it's not that life is short senica says it's that we waste a lot of [Music] it [Music] the practice of momentto Mori the meditation on death is one of the most powerful and eye openening

things that there is you built this momento Mori calendar for daily Stoke to illustrate that exact idea that your life in the best case scenario is 4,000 weeks are you going to let those weeks slip by or are you going to seize them the act of unrolling this calendar putting it on your wall and every single week that bubble is filled in that black mark is marking it off forever have something to show not just for your years but for every single dot that you filled in that you really lived that week you made something

of it you can check it out at Daily sto.com mm calendar this is the most powerful part of momento Mo senica says that the person who has gone to bed doing every everything that they could have done that day when you awake in the morning if you are so lucky it's a bonus you're happy in the morning because you've been given an extra try you're playing with house money and so if I can leave you this with this idea of momento Mory I think it'll make you better and that's why I carry this reminder with

me it's powerful use it wisely this is the daily stoic coin I'm as proud of making this as I am of any of my books tens of thousands of people all over the world have them I see them and they bring it out of their pocket they say look at this every single day it's changed my life I hope it'll do the same for you you can check it out at store. Daily stoic.com