Home / Topics / Stoicism for Aging
Stoicism for Aging
Aging is change, and change is the nature of things. The Stoics advised measuring life by its quality rather than its length, and by meeting each season of it with reason rather than regret.
Stoic ideas for this
“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you.”
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.
Seneca · On the Shortness of Life
The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Put it into practice
A Stoic tool is only useful if you actually use it. Try this small loop the next time aging shows up:
- Name it plainly. Say what is happening without the story you are adding on top of it.
- Split what’s yours from what isn’t. Invest your energy only in the part you can actually choose.
- Do one small thing. A single deliberate action today beats a week of intending to.