Make every moment complete. Live every moment as if it were your last. Only then will you finish it. Know that death can happen at any moment. This moment may be the last. Feel: “If I have to do something, I have to do it here and now, completely.”
I heard a story about a Greek general. For some reason the king was against him - some kind of palace conspiracy. It was on the general's birthday. He celebrated with his friends. Suddenly the king's messenger came and said to the general:
“Sorry, it’s hard for me to tell you this, but the king has decided that you should be hanged at six o’clock.” Get ready for six o'clock.
Friends gathered and music played. Everyone drank, ate and danced. This message changed the entire atmosphere. Everyone was sad. But the general said:
- Don't be sad, because this will be the last part of my life. Let's finish the dance we've been dancing and let's finish our feast. I now have no opportunity to finish all this in the future. And don’t see me off in such a sad atmosphere; otherwise my mind will thirst for life again and again, and the stopped music and the interrupted celebration will become a burden on my mind. Let's wrap this up. Now is not the time to stop.
Because of him they continued to dance, but it was difficult. He alone danced with even greater fervor; He alone was in a more festive mood - but the rest of the group was simply uneasy. His wife cried, but he continued to dance, continued to talk with friends. And he was so happy that the messenger returned to the king and said:
- This is a rare person. He heard the message, but was not saddened. And he perceived it completely differently - absolutely incomprehensible. He laughs and dances, and he is in a festive mood, and he says that since these moments are his last and now there is no future, he cannot waste them - he must live them.
The king himself went to see what was happening. Everyone was sad and crying. Only the general danced, drank, sang. The king asked:
- What are you doing?
The general said:
- This was my life principle - to constantly realize that death is possible at every moment. Thanks to this principle, I lived every moment as totally as possible. But of course today you made it absolutely clear. I am grateful because until now I only thought that death was possible at every moment. I was just thinking. Hidden somewhere behind was the thought that this would not happen in the next moment. There was a future. But you completely threw away my future for me. This evening is the last. Life is so short now that I can't put it off.
The king was so happy that he became this man's student. He said:
- Teach me! This is how life should be lived; this is art. I won't hang you, be my teacher. Teach me to live in the moment.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru