Memento Mori

Well, Christmas is upon us once again, my bank account is giving me dirty looks and I’ve not yet bought the food and wine necessary to satisfy my plump belly!  Never mind, money comes and goes, no matter how much or little you have – today I read that Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook) is worth $45 billion so unless he has a really, really bad day, I think he is probably the exception to the rule.

Anyway, I digress, my point in this blog has nothing to do with Mark and his billions but more to do with two small words, Memento Mori. Memento Mori – remember death. It sounds really morbid, remember death, but it’s now going to be my catch phrase. At the time of the black death and subsequent generations, Memento Mori was everywhere, painted onto buildings, carved above doorways, everywhere. The idea was that we should never forget that life can be short, death could be just around the corner and so LIVE! Live life like you may not see many more days.

We have all heard the saying, live today like it’s your last and I guess it’s a modern day version of Memento Mori. I am sure there were such sayings coming out of the last world war as well. And today it’s probably more real for those fleeing their homeland and risking everything for the chance of a safe life.

For some years I’ve been talking about life being about having experiences, doing things, experiencing new sides of life, actively getting out and doing the things you have fancied trying. Because, at the end of the day, once you are dead, there is no more physical body, no more flesh and bone to push down a mountain on skis, no more base jumping from weird and wonderful places in Norway, no more crazy sex in public places (it’s not just me!). Once we are dead, all the physical experiences we can have are gone. While we are alive, it is our personal responsibility to do whatever it is that sets a spark under us, to experience all the things we would like to do.

I promise every single person reading this, once you are dead, you will want to be a person who can say, “I DID THAT”. All of the experiences we have while alive will be taken with us, they are an integral part of who we are. We are the sum of our experiences to date. Be someone who is able to say, I did that, not someone who has to say, I didn’t do it. Puhhh. I didn’t do it, is one of the saddest things to take with you out of this life.

Memento Mori, sums up this philosophy for me. Memento Mori, remember death, live life. Use your life as a way of gaining as many experiences as you can. Good experiences, bad ones and downright ugly ones. The bad and ugly are just as important as the good, they all make us who we are. This is your purpose in life!

Lastly, decide from today what experiences you would like to have before you die and let that be the compass for your life ahead. If climbing an active volcano in Iceland floats your boat, do it. If walking the Inca trail is just a fantasy, find a way to make it happen. If taking a year out and sailing around the world burns within you, buy a boat!

The point here is that while you are alive, use your life to do the things you imagine. Be someone who dies and is able to say, I did that and not, I didn’t do it. The New Year is on its way again and there will be plenty of new resolutions to quit smoking, join the gym. Forget all that nonsense, make a resolution to do something only your imagination has dared share with you.