Living fully
A philosophers point of view
I find the idea of maximizing the most of time ridiculous. If you are alive, you are making the most of it. The point is to contemplate and analyze everything around you. To be conscious. That is making the most of it. Those who say that we should take advantage of our time have also died.
It doesn’t matter whether you maximize your time or not. If someone works hard all their life, earns a lot of money, has a high social status, could it be said that they made the most of their life? Of course they did. They did well.
Next to that you have a person who is considered lazy, who does as little as possible. A philosopher like me, who doesn’t like to work hard to have money or status, preferring to spend all day in the park sunbathing, reflecting and writing.
Feeling full and satisfied every day having freedom to do what ever feel right. That person also makes the most of it, because in the end it is their life.
Everyone decides for themselves what they want to do with it.
In ancient Greece, Alexander the Great, the emperor, the greatest conqueror of the empire, was back in the city. There, he heard about a philosopher who lived in the streets. Diogenes was his name. They called him the dog. He was a cinic. He was a human being who lacked all aesthetic sense, had long hair, was unshaven, dirty, and wore a pair of rags for clothes. But he had pride and a way of looking at life.
Alexander, who had as personal tutor Aristotle, one of the greatest referents of ancient Greek philosophy, wanted to meet him. So he came to visit him in his old wine barrel where he slept. His nest.
Remember that Alexander was the most powerful human being on the planet at that time. He arrived with his entire entourage. Between bodyguards, advisors, reporters and administrators, more than 50 people.
They started chatting and he liked Diogenes. He probably realized it wasn’t just a matter of habits, and that he had a logical way of thinking. What he said and did was coherent.
When they finished, he got up and said goodbye. He said, “Ask me for anything you want from the empire and I will give it to you”.
“Anything?” he replied. “You are not getting mad or offended?”.
“Anything you want and it’s yours”.
“Well, in that case, I’m gonna ask you to step aside because you’re blocking my sun”.
The whole entourage burst out laughing. Except for the emperor. When they all fell silent, he replied: “If I were not Alexander the Great, I would have liked to be Diogenes.
“Thank you”, said Diogenes. “I think the same as you. If I hadn’t been Diogenes, I would have liked to be Diogenes, too”.
Who is more successful in life?
Someone who spent more than half his life away from home, conquering distant lands, murdering people in an eagerness to expand his dominion, and dying at the age of 33 from battle wounds.
Or, someone who spent his whole life contemplating, enjoying the sun and chatting with passersby, who reached the age of 88 and died of old age.
They are two opposite and extreme cases, but you can imagine the inner self: one totally satisfied with nothing and the other always dissatisfied with everything.
I prefer the philosopher’s style.
Explore what makes you feel happy, define those rules and follow them. You decide how to make the most of your life.
