[bwest87]

> You should organize each day as if it were your last, so that you neither need to long for nor fear the next day.

I've come to find this "live each day like it's your last" advice to be pretty unhelpful. My favorite quote about it is, "all that goes to show you is some people would spend their last day giving you stupid advice".

The problem is that if it actually was your last day, most people would give the finger to all of their responsibilities and go party, eat cake, see friends, familiy, lovers, etc. Which is simply not an actual way to live your life. It's a way to exit your life.

An alternative framing that I've come to find more helpful is to take your life expectancy, and cut it by 2/3. Now what do you do? For example, if you're 20 years old and your life expectancy is 80 (ie. 60 more years), pretend that you only have 20 more, so you'll only live until you're 40. It's nice cause it naturally adjusts as you get older. You'll have smaller windows to work with.

This approach strikes a nice balance. It gives you enough time to be able to really do something and change directions if you want. But not so much time that you can really waste any. It forces you to ask the hard questions about whether your day to day is truly connecting with your dreams, and whether you're on a path to get there.

Of course, Seneca didn't have life expectancy tables to work with. But I think he would have approved. :)

[stackbutterflow]

If you read Seneca that's not what he's saying. He says that you should live your life in such a way that if before sleeping someone told you that it had been your last day, you would feel content with what you did today.

He says that you have to remind yourself that you can die at any time. So before doing something ask yourself whether you'd be proud of you if what you were about to do would be the last thing you'd do.

He also says that you should strive for that life, to use this advice as a compass. Not to literally start each day and do what you'd do if you were going to die tonight.

Also a good life according to Seneca is not a life full of instant gratifications like drugs, party, food. It's a simple, ascetic life.

[tiborsaas]

It's a bit contradictory to resist instant gratifications, because if you asked people if they would feel content with what they did that day, I guess more would say yes if the day was packed with instant gratification compared to more boring but good strategic activities.

[taberiand]

I think it's good advice, when placed in the correct context.

Live every day as if it could be your last - to me it's about ensuring you always strive towards being your best self, in the context of the virtues (wisdom, temperance, courage and justice) and the Stoic duty towards society.

Giving the finger to the world and living a hedonistic lifestyle is decidedly not Stoic.

Putting aside the distraction of past and future and focusing on the present is a Stoic ideal though:

"I have to die. If it is now, well then I die now; if later, then now I will take my lunch, since the hour for lunch has arrived - and dying I will tend to later." ~ Epictetus

[Arubis]

> "all that goes to show you is some people would spend their last day giving you stupid advice".

That is brilliant. I'm stealing it immediately. Thank you for a bright moment early in the day!

[silverdrake11]

"long for nor fear the next day" can be interpreted as to fulfill your responsibilities so that you don't fear the next day.