Every man's life lies within the present, for the past is spent and done with, and the future is uncertain.
- Marcus Aurelius
I got a fright - well, as much as one can be spooked by black text on a white screen - when my supervisor handed back a recent draft of my thesis - more red marks on it than something I would've handed in to a maths teacher in my high school years. But during this week, I reflected on the Stoic philosophers; Seneca the Younger, Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus. Re-reading the Meditations for the thousandth time, I was calmed by my own innate ability to take the present moment and approach my thesis in the same way. I had to surrender what I had done incorrectly as per the criterion and re-write or re-organize what I had done, one step at a time. A human mind boggles in the face of three things:
- nothingness; we cannot think of nothing nor can we experience a return to it
- The imperceptibly small and,
- the extremely massive.
So 18,000 words seemed like an insurmountable obstacle if I approached as thus. But following the teachings that I have accumulated since my renaissance on life, I can reduce, compartmentalize and think of attacking a platoon, one by one instead of taking an entire army head on, with sword aloft and faltering courage in my heart.
But grappling something with reason? Victory may not be assured, but it is certainly within the realms of achievable possibility. What one man can do, another can do. We all have within us the power to create great works, add to the knowledge of our culture or even hurt, maim or kill. But we also have the power of choice. We cannot choose everything we want in life; but what we can choose we can definitely make the most of. We surrender to time almost constantly - especially timing. Now two months remain but I remain calm. Think of the minutes wasted on Facebook and television; forsake them for minutes a day and hours in which to do what you please will magically appear before you!
People still ask, "So how many words have you done?" or "What are you up to?" I may answer 12,229 words are written but they are in no way "done." I fear that I will not be "done" I will merely have "handed it in." Will I ever be "done?" If I had it my way, I doubt I would.