Seneca was fierce about time. We guard our money and let anyone steal our days, he said—yet time is the one thing we can never earn back. He didn't mean we must be productive every second. He meant we should choose how our hours go, instead of letting them leak away unnoticed into things that don't matter to us. Rest counts, if you chose it. So does play and quiet. What stings later is the time given by accident—the endless scroll, the meeting that meant nothing, the worry that solved nothing. Today, spend at least one stretch of time on purpose. Decide where it goes, and let that small choice be yours.

Inspired by the old idea of memento mori. Written by Ugo Charles.