Quantity? Quality?
“As it is with a play, so it is with life—it is not how long the acting lasts but how good it is.”
~ Seneca
We often seem to measure a life’s worth by the length of that life. Certainly we gain experience and, with good fortune, wisdom as we age. And yet, is the number of years in a life the only valuable aspect of that life?
How good were those years? What have we created? How have we loved? Have we been compassionate and caring? Have we been honest? What have we learned and shared with others?
These, and many other qualities, might be a more remarkable measure of a lifetime. Quality is subjective, of course. What brings good quality to my life might seem utterly boring and dull to someone else. What makes their life exciting and meaningful might seem meaningless and empty to me. No matter what creates meaning in a life, it is vital to it.
Having a focus, regardless of what it is, keeps us filled with energy. This highlight creates a sense of wakefulness and awareness, an aliveness not found in a life without a reason for being. A chosen involvement, an activity that holds our attention and excites our creativity, gives us, as we age, a cornerstone upon which to centre our life. It can become a meditation in itself as we give it our interest, our energy and, yes, our love.
This may be the mark of Seneca’s good life. So it matters not how long, but how fulfilling that life is as each moment passes. Is the moment filled with awareness of what is present? Is the moment, and therefore the life, filled with wakefulness?