A Flourishing Practice

Far from being a morbid practice, meditating on death--your death--is a wise and effective way to embrace the present moment.

The Epicureans knew this trick. Lucretius suggested "picturing yourself at the point of death, and considering two possibilities. Either you have lived well, like a well-fed guest leaving a party. Or you have not, but then it makes no difference that you are losing your life, since you obviously did not know what to do with it anyway."¹

If you knew with conviction that this moment was your last moment you would not be bothered by anything.




^{1Quoted by Sarah Bakewell in How to Live}