Seneca on achieving a balanced life

When people advise me to embrace a balanced lifestyle, I’m always interested in hearing the details. What do they mean by “balanced”? Do they mean that I should allocate equal time to work, sleep and play? Or that I should balance out my interests or my friends, and devote equal time to each of them?In his writings, Seneca often repeated his recommendation to achieve a balanced life. We can find this call for balance in a few Letters to Lucilius, and in his essay “On the Shortness of Life.”I would describe Seneca’s definition of “balance” as quasi-mathematical. His exhortation to achieve a balanced lifestyle is accompanied by a strong admonition against wasting time. He is urging us to increase useful activities and decrease worthless ones by the same amount.As examples of wasteful activities, Seneca names the time spent on trivialities and entertainment, the pursuit of popularity and the pursuit of a high social status.Instead, Seneca urges us to devote more time to learning and practising philosophy. In modern terms, I would translate his advice into acquiring new skills, and pursuing personal development, self-improvement and spiritual harmony.Seneca’s advice to achieve a balanced life has become very popular, but when we look into the details, his formula doesn’t add up. His recipe is imprecise, and leaves too many questions unanswered.For instance: Why does Seneca condemn entertainment as a waste of time? Why does he view meditation or contemplation as great? Why should we give priority to skills acquisition over productivity improvement? Why is Seneca against the pursuit of an ambitious career?Instead of giving solid answers, Seneca reminds us that life is short and that we should use our time wisely. His repetitions though fail to add clarity to his advice.In the Letters to Lucilius, there are passages where Seneca’s advice to lead a balanced life becomes outright questionable. I am referring to his exhortations to live in poverty.Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/seneca-on-achieving-a-balanced-life/