| It was a dark time, to be sure. A violent time. An uncertain time. Rome, be it in Cato or Marcus Aurelius' day (to say nothing of Seneca or Epictetus', living under Nero and slavery respectively) was no picnic. And yet, the Stoics tried to be indifferent, unfazed by it all. They tried to focus on what was in their control. They tried to not be too attached to the things that could be taken from them, which, as it happens, was basically everything down to their very life (as we talk about in Lives of the Stoics, a very sizeable percentage of the Stoics departed from this Earth by order of an executioner). Yet…yet…that didn't mean the Stoics couldn't be happy people. It didn't mean they weren't able to enjoy bright, fresh mornings, or long, meandering dinners with friends. As Springsteen sings on Badlands, "It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive." Even the strictest of Stoics would have agreed that it was woefully insufficient to describe life as simply a "preferred indifferent"—-it was a wonderful gift. One they were grateful to have, one they sought to make the most of while they had it. So must we. It doesn't matter that times are dark or violent or uncertain. It doesn't matter that our knowledge of human nature (and biology) makes it impossible for us to be naive about the world. Still, we must be grateful, we must seize this gift we've been given while we have it. We should be glad to be alive, glad that, at least for the moment, being alive is far superior than any and all alternatives, glad because we realize how many dead or dying people would do anything to trade places with us. Memento mori.
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