Leisure, Study, and Fortitude: A Stoic Guide to Time Off

Music. Salutations everyone. It is September the 26th and our intention for today, I am committed to maintaining a spirit of fortitude no matter the circumstance. I am committed to maintaining a spirit of fortitude no matter the circumstances. I am committed to maintaining a spirit of fortitude no matter the circumstances. And for the daily stoic, what time off is for? Leisure without study is death. A tomb for the living person. Seneca, Moral Letters 82 and 4. You deserve a vacation. You work hard. You sacrifice. You push yourself. It's time for a break. Hop on a plane, check into your hotel, and head to the beach. But tuck a book under your arm and not a trashy beach read. Make sure you enjoy your relaxation like a poet. Not idly, but actively. Observing the world around you. Taking it all in. Better understanding your place in the universe. Take a day off from work every now and then, but not a day off from learning. Maybe your goal is to make enough money so that you can retire early. Good for you. But the purpose of retirement is not to live a life of indolence or run out the clock. As easy as that might be to do. Rather, it's to allow the pursuit of your real calling now that a big distraction is out of the way. To sit around all day and do nothing? To watch endless amounts of television or simply travel from place to place so that you might cross locations off a checklist? That is not life. It's not freedom either. So, that's pretty straightforward. Just when it comes to taking time off from work, you should still be focusing on your purpose. Because we, unfortunately for most of us, we go to work to pay bills. To maintain the life that we have going. But we're working towards our purpose so once we don't have to work anymore we can still live our life of purpose not just out here floating have a good day.