This year I'm wishing you a happy St. Patrick's day from the boarding gate of a random airport, while travelling for work.

It's been a bit of a weird week, and the idea from the title keeps going around in my head since Friday. I know this doesn't sound like much of a celebration, but in a certain way it is, a celebration of life... It all depends, as usual, on perspective.

(This is one of the famous Celtic high crosses at Clonmacnoise monastic site, in county Offaly, Ireland).

The first half of the quote is the most widely known: memento mori, "remember you will die". At first sight, the idea may seem a bit depressing (it reminds me of "dust you are, and to dust you shall return", which is typically said on Ash Wednesday as part of the Christian tradition). But for the ancient Greeks, its meaning referred to living life while we still have it (as in the famous quote carpe diem, "seize the day"). 

This thought that everything can come to an end any day (or rather, that we ourselves can come to an end) gives us perspective; it encourages us to appreciate the life we have and live it more intentionally, with more intensity. And not only in the sense of enjoying the present, as per the Epicurean teachings (although that's part of it too), but also in the sense of "living a good life" according to the Stoic philosophy, that is, doing something worthy with your life.

And that's where the second half of the quote comes into play: memento vivere, "remember to live". Because the reality is that we have no Idea when life is going to be over for us; we may die tomorrow, but we may not, and if so, we have a whole life ahead of us to do wonderful things and leave our legacy in this world.

The key here, at least in my view, is finding a way to be able to enjoy the present moment while at the same time keeping good habits that will allow us to live many years with a good quality of life, so that we continue to have energy to do the things that make us feel fulfilled: hobbies, projects, time with our loved ones...

What about you? Which side do you remember mote often, the fact that you're going to die, or the fact that you can, and should, live? In what specific ways can you make the most of this opportunity that life is giving you today?