When you imagine some pleasure, beware that it does not carry you away, like other imaginations. Wait a while, and give yourself pause. Next remember two things: how long you will enjoy the pleasure, and also how long you will afterwards repent and revile yourself. And set on the other side the joy and self-satisfaction you will feel if you refrain.
The Manual of Epictetus
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| Painting by Ragnar Kjartansson |
For every pleasure, there is a price to pay. This is not to say that pleasure is bad, but that it doesn't exist in isolation. If you need proof, take a look at your liver and your bank account.
I can't remember where I read this, but it crosses my mind often: What is future me going to think of current me? What is current me doing to help ensure future me has an easier time of it? This can be a close connection or a distant one. What will tomorrow me think of today me drinking 12 drinks and spending the rent money? What will tomorrow me think of today me not saving a dime while I had work and health? When we are young, we don't think of that older us that will own the production, or of production, of our youth. What am I doing today to take care of that future me that does not yet exist but will know me, will have pictures of me. Will I look back with regret or love? The most dramatic example of this is the old man in jail for a crime committed by his younger self, that younger self that no longer exists. The old man has perhaps even forgotten who he once was, but is holding the bill of the younger man when it should have been a check. While we definitely want to live today, we have to make sure we are thinking of that person we will be tomorrow and in twenty years. Have that conversation with future you that wishes young you had sacrificed a few pleasures , studied more, worked harder, and, yes, set aside a bit of loot for the coming storm. Be well.
I can't remember where I read this, but it crosses my mind often: What is future me going to think of current me? What is current me doing to help ensure future me has an easier time of it? This can be a close connection or a distant one. What will tomorrow me think of today me drinking 12 drinks and spending the rent money? What will tomorrow me think of today me not saving a dime while I had work and health? When we are young, we don't think of that older us that will own the production, or of production, of our youth. What am I doing today to take care of that future me that does not yet exist but will know me, will have pictures of me. Will I look back with regret or love? The most dramatic example of this is the old man in jail for a crime committed by his younger self, that younger self that no longer exists. The old man has perhaps even forgotten who he once was, but is holding the bill of the younger man when it should have been a check. While we definitely want to live today, we have to make sure we are thinking of that person we will be tomorrow and in twenty years. Have that conversation with future you that wishes young you had sacrificed a few pleasures , studied more, worked harder, and, yes, set aside a bit of loot for the coming storm. Be well.
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