Memento Mori
Stoicism talks about the concept of memento-mori. An object or a thing that can remind us of our mortality and death. By looking at it once in day, we reinvigorate ourselves and appreciate our life in a better manner.
Modern day saint, Steve Jobs, has said it better: ‘Death is very likely the single best invention of life’. In his famous commencement speech he reframed it as, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
For me such a epiphany came after a near-death experience with my father’s health situation, almost a decade. My father is known for being stickler of habits and diet. He is known for his healthy lifestyle and yoga. Yet, he caught a tuberculosis infection after a vacation at Mumbai, which is notoriously known for TB. We had diagnosed it quite late, by then it grew complicated and turned our life upside down. It took some surgeries, an episode of paralysis and almost 6 months of time, for things to be normal.
Luckily, I was blessed with a family, who were extremely supportive of my Dad to take care of him and see him back to work hale and healthy. It gave a unique and lifelong learning of people who are important to me. It also gave a hard hitting lesson on people who even though were relatives but not important.
This entire incident happened when I was in my late twenties. I had just gotten married too. But surprisingly, myself as well as my support wife handled this entire thing in a matured fashion. I believe my phase of adulting started after that jolt-like incident. This experience still helps me handle any life situation in composed manner.
Do you have such experience? If yes, I would love to hear more about that.