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Thursday, June 18, 2009

"there is nothing the busy man is less busied with than living; there is nothing that is harder to learn"
- Roman Pbhilospoher Seneca

In my last clumn, I shared some insights from Roman Philsopher Seneca's essay, On The Shortness Of Life. In particular, i described some of the many ways in which we can fritter away our time on unsatisfying and unrewarding tasks. This week, I will explore this topic further

Past, Present and future
"life is divided into three periods," Seneca worte, "that which has been, that which is, and that which will be. Of these, the present time is short, the future is doubtful, the past is certain".
Everday, swiftly and silently, life flows on. The present recedes into the past; the future glides into the present; and then it too vanishes into the past. More quickly tha we every imagined, life's journey draws to an end.
The tragedy is that most people are so "engrossed", so caught up in the day-to-day busyness of life, that they become aware of this to late. "then at last they reflect how uselessly they have striven for things which they did not enjoy, and how all their toil has gone for nothing."
According to Seneca, a careless, unreflecting approach to life deprives us of the blessings of the past, the present and the future.

Squandering the past
The past is the only period of life that is safe and secure, and not subject to the vagaries of fortune. Past memoreis are, in Seneca's words, "an unanxious possession". We can call them up at any time and enjoy them as often as we wish.
But the engorssed are so caught up in the day-to-day whirl that they never take the time to look back. Their lives are like a bottomless well, swallowing up their past as though it never existed. Their lives "vanish into ab abyss".
Futhermore, those who do not live wisely are more likely to look back on the past with regret than rekoicing. There is no pleasure in looking back on wearisome tasks and missed opportunities.

Neglecting the present
"Present time is very brief, so breif, indeed, that to some there seems to be none; for it is always in motion," wrote Seneca. Yet for the terminally busy, the present time is all there is. Their minds are so preoccipied with the business of the moment that everything else is pushed aside.
Worse still, they are so distracted by their busyness ethat even the present is robbed of its sweetness.

Fearing the future
The future has its pitfalls too. Can anything be sillier, Seneca asked, than those who spend every waking moment preparing for the future; wasting today in anticipation of tomorrow? Reasons for anxiety will never be lacking, no matter how hard we work or how prosperous we bacome.
"Very wretched, therefore , and not merely short, must the life of those be who work hard to gain what they must work harder to keep" They spend their entire lives perparing to live.
By now, readers may wonder why i have spent so long focusing on the negative. Afer all, I have spent two entire columns describing the ways in which we fritter away our tim and squaner the blessings of the past, present and future.
I have taken my lead from Seneca himself. This is precisely the method he adopts in his essay. Like a wise doctor, he uses every argument at his disposal to convince us of the seriousness of our condition before prescribing a cure.
In my next column, I will redress the balance and see what positive insights Seneca has to offer and what advice he gives to those who want to live life to the full.

"But those who forget the past, neglect the present and ferar for the future have a life that is very brief andtroubled; when they have reached the end of it, the por wretches perceive too late that for suhc a long while they have been busied in doing nothing"
- Seneca

The whole thing above is written Fary Hayden, taken from Mind Your Body, June 18 2009. Gary Hayden is a freelance writer who specialises in education, science, philosophy, health, well-being, travel and short fiction.

i typed the whole thing in 3 songs. hee... i didn't bother to go through what i wrote, so pls pardon me if there are typos. hahahaz.. i like his articles very much. He will write in sunday times, with sumiko tan.. but recently, i dun have the time or rather i'm working then usually come back KO liao. so.. today is my off day, i remembered to read the article.

those who read to the end, do tag me. so that i'll know there are ppl who read to the end. but i know even if yh read, she also won't tag rite. hahahahaz.. kkz.

live your life the way you want, dun give a**** abt wad ppl think. they are insignificant.
- lynette lim yu ying. =)

9:46 PM

this scorpio has very split personality if anyone has realised. She likes super cute stuff e.g. hello kitty, pooh and a very good example, this blog skin. On the other hand, she hates to dress cutely. she uses vulgarities like occasionally but never uses it when parents are home ; loves dressing up when the occasion comes but hates the heels/dresses/skirts; loves making friends but hates socialising; plays the piano but prefers soft rock music in her mp3; loves the customer service envt but doesn't want it as her career; materialistic to a certain extent but hates the cliched designer brands; loves hanging out with friends but sometimes prefers and enjoys the solitude when alone; not really interested in finding a boyfriend but hoping to find a suitable and dependable husband; hates the cliched "wooing" but loves the sweetness in idol dramas; can get emotional at times but doesn't like too much attention and concern; can be superly active but is known to be the rain on people's parade; and the list could go on. if she doesn't talk to you, pls don't think she's unfriendly; she just doesn't want put on a pretence of knowing you well. All in all, hopefully you wouldn't hate her if you know her well enough. and if you hate her, hopefully its because you don't know her well enough.